Here are some lesser known facts about former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri
Here are some lesser known facts about Lal Bahadur Shastri, who once resigned as Railway Minister in the wake of a train accident in Tamil Nadu.
Lal Bahadur Shastri, who was born in Mughalsarai in UP, opposed the caste-system when he was 12 and gave up his surname -Shrivastava. He was given the title 'Shastri' (which means scholar) by the Kashi Vidya Peeth in Varanasi after he completed his gradu
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)
