Normally, Uttar Pradesh, still the largest state even after division into two in 2000 which awaits turning into four states after splitting it, is known to provide maximum number of Prime Ministers of India. The first PM Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru hailed from UP and even the present PM Narendra Modi be considered to represent UP since he is elected to Lok Sabha from Varanasi i.e. Banaras or Kashi. The question was always asked: “who after Nehru?” Morarji Desai, a south Gujarat born Gujarati always aspired to replace Nehru but a Nehru-loyalist Lal Bahadur Shastri was fortunate to be in PMO in 1964. For the second time, after Shastri’s untimely death in Tashkent in January 1966, Desai again threw his hat in the ring but the senior leaders of Congress and the industrialists preferred Nehru’s daughter and a Minister Indira Gandhi to Morarji. Desai had to satisfy himself being the Deputy PM and the Finance Minister in her Cabinet till almost a decade to get a chance to be the PM of a non-Congress Janata Party government in March 1977.
If one asks how many Prime Ministers hailed from Gujarat, most of the persons would reply only two: Morarji Desai and Narendra Modi. Of course, both Gujarati leaders could reach the South Block but Gujarat contributed more PMs. Maniben V. Patel, a Member of Parliament for 27 years, writes, Sardar Patel never aspired Primiership but as a Deputy PM Patel was much more stronger leader than PM Nehru who called the shots even in Jammu and Kashmir affairs. None can dispute that a Punjab-born Gulzarilal Nanda, who was elected from Sabarkantha (Gujarat) Lok Sabha constituency, was an acting PM twice for 13-day each and aspired to be a full-fledged PM but destiny could not support him despite being the Home Minister of India.
The in-laws of Indira Gandhi hailed from Bharuch and she quite often would declare herself as the “Gujarat ki Bahu” (Daughter-in-law of Gujarat). Even her elder son Rajiv Gandhi who became the PM after she was shot dead at PM House by her own security guards in October 1984 and his wife Sonia Gandhi as well as their children Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra can claim to have strong Gujarati connection. The present Union Minister Maneka Sanjay Gandhi and her BJP MP son Firoze Varun Gandhi have a right to claim so. Indira preferred contesting Rae Bareli and retaining UP seat despite being elected from Chikmanlur in Karnataka and Medak in Andhra Pradesh (present-day Telangana).
An old Congress hand from UP, Chaudhary Charan Singh left Congress in 1967 to join anti-Congress Front floated by Dr.Ram Manohar Lohia and Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya. He could be the PM with support of Indira Gandhi’s Congress after he deserted Morarji government as one of the two Deputy PMs, other being Jagjivan Ram. Charan Singh could not face the Lok Sabha even for a day but was the PM for 170 days. Even Atal Bihari Vajpayee who became the first non-Congress PM thrice contested Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat. He was elected in 1996 but resigned since he retained Lucknow seat like Modi resigned Vadodara seat and opted for Varanasi in 2014.
The Deputy PM Lal Krishna Advani, a migrant from Sindh after Partition, represented Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat but failed to fulfill his dream to be PM even when he was projected as PM candidate in 2009. V.P.Singh, Chandra Shekhar (both from UP), H.D.Deve Gowda (from Karnataka) and I. K. Gujaral (from Punjab) be considered as an accidental PMs. They could not complete full term but P.V.Narsimha Rao (from present-day Telangana) got a chance to be the PM since Rajiv Gandhi was blasted off during the election campaign in May 1991. He could complete his full-term despite running a minority government. A west Punjab born Dr. Manmohan Singh, who represented Assam in the Rajya Sabha, had full two terms as the PM of UPA government with the blessings of Sonia Gandhi. Modi is destined to be the PM again in May 2019 but question being asked is “who if not Modi?” in case an alternative is to be thought of.
Next Column: Lok Sabha Elections and Surprised Results
(The writer is a Socio-political Historian. E-mail: [email protected] )
