Inder Kumar Gujral

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Inder Kumar Gujral
15th Prime Minister of India
In office 21 April 1997 – 19 March 1998
Preceded by	H D Deve Gowda
Succeeded by	A B Vajpayee
Born	4 December 1919 Jhelum, Punjab,  British India
Political party	Janata Dal

Inder Kumar Gujral (Hindi: इन्द्र कुमार गुजराल) (born 4 December 1919) was the twelfth Prime Minister of the Republic of India.

Born in the town of Jhelum in Western Punjab, now in Pakistan, he actively took part in India's freedom struggle, and was jailed in 1942 during 'Quit India Movement'.

In the tumultuous days of June 1975, he was minister of Information and Broadcasting. On June 12,1975, the Allahabad high court gave a verdict that Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi used unfair means in elections of 1971 and termed her election null and void. There were reports that her son, Sanjay Gandhi brought people from neighboring state of Uttar Pradesh in a number of trucks to Delhi and held massive demonstrations in support of the Prime Minister. It was also reported that Sanjay wanted Gujral to give coverage of the rallies on state run television and radio. However Gujral refused to obey Sanjay Gandhi, who did not hold any constitutional post. Many people believe that it was the reason why Gujral was replaced by Vidya Charan Shukla as minister of Information and Broadcasting.

Later, Gujral was appointed India's ambassador to Russia. By the time of Indira Gandhi's return to power in 1980,as the Indian envoy to Moscow, Gujral persuaded her to express opposition to the Soviet Union's 1979 invasion of Afghanistan. That was a break from India's earlier record of supporting Soviet military ventures in Hungary and Czechoslovakia, and it led Mrs. Gandhi to privately inform Soviet leader Leonid I. Brezhnev that the Kremlin had blundered in Afghanistan.

Gujral left the Congress Party in the mid-1980s and joined the Janata Dal. The Dal was a third-party with mainly socialist leanings and regional bases. In 1989 elections, Gujral was elected from Jallandhar parliamentary constituency of Punjab. He served as Minister of External Affairs in V.P.Singh cabinet. The issue he had to deal with as External Affairs Minister was Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent events that led to first gulf war of January 1991. As India's representative, he personally met with Iraq's Saddam Hussein. His hug with Hussein during the meeting remains a matter of controversy. In 1991 mid-term parliamentary elections, Gujral contested from Patna constituency in Bihar against Janata Dal(S) candidate and then Finance Minister Mr. Yashwant Sinha. However the election was countermanded following complaints of large scale irregularities.

In 1992,Gujral was elected to Rajya Sabha and remained a key Janata Dal leader.

After 1996 elections, when United Front government was formed at the center under the leadership of H.D.Deve Gowda, he was again named Minister of External Affairs of India. During his second tenure as Minister of External Affairs, he propounded his 'Gujral Doctrine' which called for better relations with neighbors. With Gujral at the helm of Ministry of External Affairs, India resolved long standing dispute over Ganga water sharing with Bangladesh.

Before becoming the Prime Minister of India in April 1997, he served the country as Union Minister or Minister of State holding different portfolios in the Ministries of Communications and Parliamentary Affairs, Information & Broadcasting, Works & Housing, Planning and Ministry of External Affairs.

The Congress party, which was supporting the United Front government from outside decided to withdraw support, which led to the collapse of the government in April 1997.In order to avoid elections, compromise was reached and the Congress party agreed to support another United Front government under new leader, provided its concerns like not being consulted before taking important decisions and being marginalized were addressed. The United Front elected Gujral as new leader and he was sworn in as Prime Minister on April 21,1997.

Gujral inherited the bitterness between Congress party and the United Front from his predecessor, HD Deve Gowda. However he adroitly maintained good relations with the Congress party that was supporting his government from outside. Within a few weeks in office, Prime Minister Gujral faced a trouble, not from the Congress party but within his own Janata Dal. The CBI asked for the permission from the governor of Bihar Mr. AR Kidwai to prosecute the state chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in a corruption case related with purchase of fodder for the cattle (see:Fodder Scam). The state governor granted the permission for the prosecution of the chief minister and demand for the resignation of Yadav was raised both from within and out of the United Front. However Laloo Prasad Yadav sternly rejected the demand. Prime Minister Gujral just exhorted Yadav to step down without actually taking any action against his government. When Gujral transferred the CBI director Mr. Joginder Singh, who was investigating the case against Yadav, many people considered this as an attempt on the part of Prime Minister to protect Yadav. When Laloo Prasad Yadav felt that he no longer enjoyed commanding position in Janata Dal, he left the party and formed his own 'Rashtriya Janata Dal' (RJD) on July 3, 1997. Out of 45 Janata Dal members of parliament, 17 left the party and supported Yadav. However, the new party continued in the United Front and Gujral's government was saved from immediate danger.

Prime Minister Gujral continued in the office for over 11 months, including 3 months as caretaker Prime Minister. During this time, he attempted to improve relations with Pakistan, reform the aging institutions of government and promote pro-growth economic policies to bring the country out of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, which had left it stagnant. But the fractious, corrupt and unstable coalition politics were too big a hurdle.

One of the most controversial decisions of his government was recommendation of President's rule in Uttar Pradesh, following unruly scenes in the state assembly on October 21,1997. The BJP government headed by Kalyan Singh sought vote of confidence when the violence and unruly scenes took place in the assembly. However President K.R. Narayanan refused to sign the recommendation and sent it back to the government for reconsideration. Gujral government decided not to pursue the matter further and let Kalyan Singh's government continue in Uttar Pradesh.

In early November 1997, parts of interim report of Jain Commission inquiring into the conspiracy aspect of Rajiv Gandhi assassination case were leaked to the press. Reportedly, the Jain Commission had indicted the political party, DMK (Dravid Munnetra Kazhagam) for tacitly supporting the LTTE, which was responsible for Rajiv Gandhi's assassination. The DMK was part of the ruling coalition at the center and the Union Cabinet had ministers belonging to the DMK. The Congress party first demanded the tabling of the report on the floor of the parliament. The report was tabled on 19 November 1997. When it was confirmed that the Jain Commission had in fact held the DMK responsible for supporting the LTTE, the Congress party demanded that the ministers belonging to the DMK be dropped. There was exchange of letters between Congress President Sitaram Kesri and Prime Minister Gujral. However, Gujral refused to budge. In a public function in Calcutta on November 23,1997, he gave a hint of what was to follow saying 'mid-term elections are around the corner'.The Congress party finally withdrew support to his government on November 28,1997. Gujral resigned following the withdrawal of support by the congress party. As no alternative government could be formed, the only alternative was mid-term elections, as Gujral had foreseen.

The Gujral Government was sadly in the mire of a very fractious, chaotic stage in the evolution of democracy in India. It failed to achieve any particular goal towards national progress and public welfare despite being headed by an able administrator with clean image, Gujral. However, I.K. Gujral had the distinct privilege and honor of leading the country in its 50th year of independence, a year of pride and major celebrations of the country's diversity, vibrant cultural fabric, achievements of the past five decades, and of course, honoring the national freedom struggle and its veterans.

The elections were held in February-March 1998.Gujral contested again from Jallandhar constituency in Punjab with the support of Akali Dal. The Akali Dal, though a part of BJP-led coalition opted to support Gujral because during his Prime Ministerial tenure, Gujral declared that the central government will share the expenses on stamping out terrorism in Punjab during 1980s and early 1990s, along with the state government of Punjab. That eased the strain on economy of Punjab to a great extent and the Akali Dal decided to support Gujral. Gujral defeated Umrao Singh of the Congress party by over 131,000 votes. In the 12th Lok Sabha, Gujral actively opposed the BJP-led coalition government. In a debate in Lok Sabha on May 29,1998, he pointed out some of the drawbacks of the government in handling of the nuclear tests conducted at Pokhran. He also opposed the government's decision to impose President's rule in Bihar. However Gujral actively supported Prime Minister Vajpayee's visit to Lahore in February 1999 and signing of Lahore Declaration with Pakistan Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif. On April 19,1999, when the BJP-led government sought vote of confidence on the floor of the Lok Sabha after the withdrawal of support by AIADMK, Gujral opposed the government.

He did not contest 1999 elections and retired from active politics.

He speaks fluent Urdu, the national language of Pakistan, and spends part of his leisure time writing Urdu couplets, a poetic form that traces back to India's Mogul emperors. His wife, Sheila, with whom he has two sons, is a poet and author, and his brother Satish Gujral is a prominent painter and architect.

In 2004, his son Naresh Gujral unsuccessfully contested with an Shiromani Akali Dal seat from Jalandhar, Punjab constituency in the Indian General Elections.

Preceded by H. D. Deve Gowda	Prime Minister of India 1997–1998	Succeeded by Atal Behari Vajpayee
Preceded by V P Singh	Minister for External Affairs of India 1989–1990	Succeeded by Vidya Charan Shukla
Preceded by Sikander Bakht	Minister for External Affairs of India 1996–1998	Succeeded by Atal Behari Vajpayee

Prime Ministers of India
Nehru • Nanda • Shastri • I. Gandhi • Desai • C. C. Singh • R. Gandhi • V. P. Singh • Shekhar • Rao • Vajpayee • Gowda • Gujral • M. Singh