Lal Bahadur Shastri Jayanthi

Lal Bahadur Shastri was a freedom fighter and served as the second prime minister of Independent India. He was born of October 2 and Lal Bahadur Shastri Jayanthi is celebrated to commemorate this great leader’s birthday.

Lal Bahadur Shastri Jayanthi 2023

Mon , 2nd Oct 2023

Lal Bahadur Shastri was born on 2 October 1904 in Mughalsarai of Chandauli district in Uttar Pradesh. His parents were Sharada Prasad Srivastava and Ramdulari Devi. He discontinued his education in East Central Railway Inter college to join the non-cooperation movement. He is well known for his great work in the betterment of the underprivileged at Muzaffarpur. He has closely worked with Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhiji and Annie Besant. He joined the Indian independence movement in the 1920s. He was appointed as the president of Lok Sevak Mandal (Servants of the People Society), founded by Lala Lajpat Rai. After Indian Independence, he was a part of the first ever minister cabinet. He served as the first Railways Minister (1951–56) under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru.

Accomplishments as a Prime Minister

During his reign as Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri promoted great schemes and plans for the country. One of the most popular is the “White Revolution” – a national campaign to increase the production and supply of cow’s milk. He created the National Dairy Development Board. This campaign was a major success, also extended support to Amul milk co-operative of Anand, Gujarat. Green Revolution was also ardently promoted in his period underlining the focus on boosting India's food production. This led to a massive increase in grain production and yield in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. His domestic policies, economic policies and foreign policies were supportive of India’s growth in the global platform.

Most importantly, Lal Bahadur Shastri led the country during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965. His popular slogan "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan" ("Hail to the soldier; Hail to the farmer") was introduced during this war. The war formally ended by signing the “Tashkent Declaration” on 10 January 1966 with the intervention of United Nations. This declaration was signed by Shastri and Ayub Khan during a summit in Tashkent.

Shastri died the following day in Tashkent and the cause of his death was reported to be a cardiac arrest. His cause of death has been a subject of dispute often. Vijay Ghat memorial was established in His memory and of the great victory in India’s performance in Indo Pak war. Lal Bahadur Shastri was posthumously awarded the prestigious Bharat Ratna.