| Chandra Shekhar (1927 - 2007) |
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Chandra was born in Ibrahimpatti, a small village in India. He did his M.A. from Allahabad university.
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In the 50's Acharya Narendra Dava, one of the thinkers, politicians and educationalists of his time inspired Chandra Shekhar. He was a member of Praja Socialist Party before he joined the ruling Congress Party in 1964. In the late 60's he led a pressure group which came to be known as "Young Turks" and in 1970 launched a weekly called "Young India" to influence the Congress to adopt left-of-the centre policies.
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He was a member the Rajya Sabha, from 1962 to 1967, and he held a seat in the Lok Sabha, in 1977-79, 1980-84, and from 1989 until he became Prime Minister. Shekhar was one of the people who left the Congress Party of Mrs.Indira Gandhi during the black days of Emergency, which Mrs. Gandhi had proclaimed due to political reasons.
In 1977 Shekhar became president of the Janata Party, which headed a coalition government under Prime Minister Morarji Desai from 1977 to 1979. In 1988 Shekhar's Janata Party merged with several other opposition parties to form the Janata Dal Party under the leadership of VP Singh, who subsequently became Prime Minister. After leading an internal rebellion against Singh, Shekhar broke with the Janata Dal Party on Nov. 5, 1990, and quickly formed the Janata Dal-Socialist faction. With the support of Rajiv Gandhi's Congress (I) Party, he replaced Singh as India's Prime Minister on Nov. 10, 1990, as the head of a weak minority government. He resigned the office on March 6, 1991, after the Congress (I) Party withdrew its support, but he remained in office as a caretaker until national legislative elections could be held in May and June.
Chandra Shekhar was a member of the Lok Sabha, India's lower house of Parliament. He led Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya), (Socialist People's Party (National)). Starting in 1977, he won elections to the Lok Sabha eight times from Ballia constituency in eastern Uttar Pradesh. The only election that he lost was in 1984 against Mr. Jagganath Chaudhary of Congress(I).
Shekhar suffered from multiple myeloma, a form of cancer of the plasma cell. On 3 May 2007, he was hospitalised in critical condition after his condition had deteriorated. Shekhar died at the age of 80 in New Delhi on 8 July 2007. He was survived by two sons. One of them, Neeraj Shekhar contested and won the Ballia Lok Sabha which was vacated through his father's death.
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| Category filed under: Political |
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