Chandra Shekhar was an Indian politician who served as the 8th Prime Minister of India, between 10 November 1990 and 21 June 1991.
26 Facts About Chandra Shekhar
2.
Chandra Shekhar headed a minority government of a breakaway faction of the Janata Dal with outside support from the Indian National Congress.
3.
Chandra Shekhar was the first Indian Prime Minister who had never held any prior government office.
4.
Chandra Shekhar's government was largely seen as a "puppet" and "lame duck", and the government was formed with the fewest party MPs in the Lok Sabha.
5.
Chandra Shekhar was born on 17 April 1927 in a Rajput family at Ibrahimpatti, a village in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh.
6.
Chandra Shekhar attended Allahabad University, obtaining his master's degree in political science in 1950.
7.
Chandra Shekhar was known as a firebrand in student politics and started his political career with Dr Ram Manohar Lohia.
8.
Chandra Shekhar had two sons with her, Pankaj Shekhar Singh and Neeraj Shekhar.
9.
Chandra Shekhar joined the socialist movement and was elected secretary of the district Praja Socialist Party, Ballia.
10.
Chandra Shekhar came under the spell of Acharya Narendra Dev, a fiery Socialist leader at the beginning of his political career.
11.
From 1962 to 1977, Chandra Shekhar was a member of Rajya Sabha, the Upper house of the Parliament of India.
12.
Chandra Shekhar was elected to Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh on 3 April 1962 as an independent candidate and completed his tenure on 2 April 1968.
13.
Chandra Shekhar resigned from Rajya Sabha on 2 March 1977 after he had been elected to Lok Sabha from Ballia.
14.
Chandra Shekhar came to be known as a 'young Turk' for his conviction and courage in the fight against the vested interests.
15.
Chandra Shekhar went on a nationwide padayatra in 1983 from Kanyakumari to New Delhi, to know the country better, which he claimed gave jitters to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
16.
Chandra Shekhar started his Bharat Yatra from Kanyakumari on 6, the same day that his party, Janata Party was swept to power in Karnataka.
17.
Chandra Shekhar established Bharat Yatra Centres in various parts of the country and set up a Bharat Yatra Trust in Bhondsi village in Haryana's Gurgaon to focus on rural development.
18.
Chandra Shekhar won a confidence motion with the support of his 64 MPs and Rajiv Gandhi, the leader of the Opposition, and was sworn in as Prime Minister.
19.
Chandra Shekhar was a member of Rajya Sabha from 1962 to 1977,1962 to 1968 as an independent supported by Socialist Party and later as member of Congress.
20.
Chandra Shekhar was elected to Lok Sabha from Ballia as a member of various incarnations of Janata Party in 1977,1980,1989,1991,1996,1998,1999, and 2004.
21.
Chandra Shekhar lost that seat only once in that span, in 1984 election.
22.
Chandra Shekhar remained the Minister of Information and Broadcasting from 21 November 1990 to 21 June 1991 from Samajwadi Janata Party and at that time he was himself the Prime Minister of India.
23.
Chandra Shekhar was himself the Prime Minister at that time and was preceded by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and succeeded by Shankarrao Chavan of Indian National Congress.
24.
Chandra Shekhar was Minister of Defence for a very short time of 7 months and didn't present the Defence budget.
25.
Chandra Shekhar was prime minister for seven months, the second shortest period after that of Charan Singh.
26.
Chandra Shekhar handled the portfolios of Defence and Home Affairs during this period.