Here are some lesser known facts about former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri

India's second Prime Minister used to swim across the Ganga to reach school as he could not afford a boat ride. He was a seasoned freedom fighter who spent a total of 9 years in jail. (Photo | EPS)

Apart from being general secretary of the Congress, he held the railways, transport and commerce portfolios before becoming Union home minister in 1961. (Photo | EPS)

As police and transport minister in UP government, Shastri appointed women conductors and advocated use jets of water canon instead of baton charge to disperse unruly crowd. (Photo | EPS)

As railway minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri had tendered his resignation following the deadly train accident in Ariyalur in which 142 people were killed in 1956. (Photo | EPS)

During his tenure as PM, the urged people to skip one meal a day to ensure food is distributed equally. His appeal got a good response with eateries shutting down on Monday evening. Citizens later called this ‘Shastri Vrat’. (Photo | EPS)

Shastri, as PM wanted to buy a car which then priced Rs 12,000. Since he had only Rs 7,000 in his account, he applied for a loan of Rs 5,000 from the Punjab National Bank. (Photo | EPS)

India won the India-Pakistan war in 1965 under the leadership of Shahstri. He lead the country and took the decision for army to take a bold action. (Photo | EPS)

Lal Bahadur was the first person to be awarded Bharat Ratna, India's Highest Civilian Award. (Photo | EPS)

After signing the Tashkent Declaration on 11th January, 1966 he took his last breath. Reports say he died of a cardiac arrest but his death still remains a mystery. (Photo | EPS)