The article narrates the life and works of Lal Bahadur Shastri, a popular Indian leader who was born in family of landlords. After completing his education at St. Xavier’s College Bombay, he joined the Indian National Congress as an activist and rose to prominence during World War II when India entered into conflict with its rival country Pakistan.
In this article, you will find a 1000-word essay about Lal Bahadur Shastri for kids and youngsters. This covers information about his early life, political career, key works, personal life, and Death.
Lal Bahadur Shastri (1000+ Words) Essay for Students and Children
Lal Bahadur Shastri was the Indian National Congress’s second Prime Minister and one of the party’s top leaders. Mahatma Gandhi had a profound impact on him, and he joined the independence movement in the 1920s.
After India gained independence in 1947, Lal Bahadur Shastri joined Nehru’s ministry and rose through the ranks to become one of Prime Minister Nehru’s most trusted advisers, first as Railway Minister and later as Home Minister.
During the 1965 Indo-Pak war, he led the nation and coined the phrase “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan,” which is still popular today. The Tashkent Agreement, signed on January 10, 1966, officially ended the conflict.
On the next day, he died in Tashkent. Even though it was stated that Lal Bahadur Shastri died of heart arrest, his family was not happy.
Early Childhood Development and Education
Lal Bahadur Shastri was born at Mughal Sarai on October 2, 1904. He was born at Mughal Sarai, the residence of his maternal grandparents.
His paternal ancestors were Zamindars of Ramnagar, a small town near Varanasi. Shastri’s father was a schoolteacher who later worked as a clerk in Allahabad’s tax office.
Shastri was his parents’ oldest son, although he was the second child, with an older sister called Kailashi Devi. His father died when Lal Bahadur Shastri was one and a half years old, during a bubonic plague pandemic.
His mother, Smt. Ramdulari Devi, was 23 years old at the time and pregnant with her third child when she brought her children to Ramnagar to live with her father. In July 1906, she gave birth to Shastri’s younger sister Sundara Devi.
Lal Bahadur Shastri began his schooling at the age of four under the supervision of a Muslim priest, since Urdu/Persia was the language of instruction because it was the language of government for generations until English supplanted it. In Mughal Sarai, he joined Budhan Mian at the East Central Railway inter-college.
After the Death of his maternal grandfather, Bindeshwari Prasad’s cousin of Ramdulari Devi became the head of the family who was a school teacher in Mughal Sarai. Bindeshwari Prasad was transferred to Varanasi & the entire family of Shastriji shifted to Varanasi. There he joined Harish Chandra School, at this time he decided to drop his caste derived surname of Srivastava.
Lal Bahadur Shastri’s Higher Education and Role in India’s Independence Movement
There was no connection between the family with the independence struggle. Nishkameshwar Prasad Mishra, his teacher at Harish Chandra High School, was a patriotic and well-respected individual. By permitting Shastri to instruct his children, he provided him with much-needed financial assistance.
Shastri became interested in the liberation fight and began studying Indian history and notable figures such as Swami Vivekananda, Gandhi, and Annie Besant. He went to a public assembly in Benares held by Gandhi while he was in the tenth grade.
Inspired by Gandhi’s call to boycott the government school & join the Non-Cooperation movement, Shastriji withdrew from Harish Chandra the next day and joined the local branch of Congress party as a volunteer and started taking part in the anti-government demonstrations.
J.B. Kriplani, a former professor at Banaras Hindu University who subsequently became one of the most famous leaders of the Indian Independence movement and one of Gandhi’s closest supporters, was Shastri’s direct supervisor.
Shastri completed his education in philosophy & ethics with a first-class degree in 1925 from the National Institution of Higher Education known as Kashi Vidyapith which was started by J. B. Kripalani & VN Sharma with the support of a wealthy philanthropist and ardent Congress nationalist, Shiv Prasad Gupta.
In 1928, Shastri joined the Indian National Congress as a delegate. In 1937, he served as a secretary for the legislative board of Uttar Pradesh after being in jail for two and a half years. He was sentenced to one year in jail for offering individual Satyagraha assistance to the independence struggle.
Lal Bahadur Shastri’s Political Career
He was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary in his native state of Uttar Pradesh after India’s independence, and then as Minister of Police and Transport under Chief Minister Govind Ballabh Pant.
As the state’s transport minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri was the first to employ conductors. He was effective in quelling communal riots during his time as a police minister, and he was the first to advise the police to utilize water jets instead of lathi charges to disperse crowds.
With Jawaharlal Nehru as Prime Minister, he was appointed General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee in 1951. It was his job to choose the candidates and guide them through electioneering and PR operations. His cabinet was made up of India’s most successful businesspeople.
Lal Bahadur Shastri played important roles in a landslide victory of a Congress party in India General Election in 1952, 1957 & 1962. He successfully contested UP Vidhansabha from Saron in 1962 and won by 69% vote.
Shastri was made the first Railway minister in the first cabinet of Republic India on 13th May 1952. He was also Minister of Commerce & Industry and laid the foundation stone of Mangalore Port.
Prime Minister of India Lal Bahadur Shastri Ji
Shastriji was appointed Prime Minister after Jawaharlal Nehru died on May 27, 1964. Then-Congress President K. Kamaraj aided in his appointment as India’s second Prime Minister.
Many of Nehru’s Council of Ministers remained in place, and Shastri named Nehru’s daughter Indira Gandhi as Minister of Information and Broadcasting.
During his term, the anti-Hindu protest in Madras in 1965 occurred as the Indian government attempted to establish Hindi as the country’s single national language. He ran into opposition from states that did not speak Hindi.
To calm the situation, he assured English would be continued as the official language. The agitation & riots subsided after the assurance.
Personal Life & Family
Lal Bahadur Shastri was married to Lalita Devi on 16th May 1928, the four sons & two daughters. Throughout his life, he followed the principles of Gandhi.
Shastri Ji’s New Political Revolution
Nehru’s socialist economic plans were abandoned by Shastri. Lal Bahadur Shastri was instrumental in launching the white revolution, a push to improve milk production and availability.
He supported the cooperative firms & created the National Dairy Development Board. Shastri Ji visited Anand on 31st October 1964 and inaugurated the cattle feed factory of Amul at Kanjari.
Lal Bahadur Shastri spent the night there, interacting with the farmers and sharing a meal with them. As a result of this meeting, he established the National Dairy Development Board, which was chaired by Mr. Verghese Kurien, the General Manager of Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producer Union Ltd at the time (Amul).
Because of widespread food shortages, Shastriji advised people to give up one meal willingly so that the food saved might be handed to those in need.
The response to his request was remarkable, with restaurants and cafés closing their doors once a week. Shastri Vrat was celebrated in several areas of the country.
How did Lal Bahadur Shastri handle the India-Pakistan war?
India in 1965 His biggest movement was the Pakistan War, in which he led India into battle. As conflict broke out on a large scale, he dispatched the Indian army, which crossed the Line of Control and threatened Pakistan near Lahore. Between the two nations, massive tank engagements were conducted.
Tough Pakistani forces made gains in the northern part, Indian forces captured strategic posts at Haji Pir in Kashmir & Lahore city in Pakistan were under artillery & mortar fire of Indian forces. The war ended on 23rd September 1965, as per the United Nations-mandated ceasefire.
Death
Shastri died of a heart attack on January 11, 1966, in Tashkent, after signing a peace pact to conclude the 1965 Indo-Pak War. His family, on the other hand, refused to accept the circumstances of his death and the allegations of foul play.
The Indian government then did not release any information & the media was also kept silent. Many conspiracy theories are still actively related to his Death.
I hope you found this article about Lal Bahadur Shastri Ji to be interesting.