PRIME MINISTERS OF INDIA - 1 - ANSWERS

1. C. Morarji Desai

“Nishan-e-Pakistan” is the highest of civil awards and decorations given by the Government of Pakistan for the highest degree of service to the country and nation of Pakistan. The award was established on 19 March 1957. This award, like other civilian awards, is announced on 14th August (Independence Day of Pakistan) each year and its investiture takes place on following 23rd March (Pakistan Day – A National Day in Pakistan commemorating the Lahore Resolution passed on 23 March 1940 and the adoption of the first constitution of Pakistan during the transition of the Dominion of Pakistan to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on 23 March 1956 making Pakistan the world's first Islamic republic. A Republic Day parade by the armed forces is often part of the celebrations.)

Morarji Desai who was awarded “Nishan-e-Pakistan” in 1990, is the only Indian till date to receive this award. He was awarded for his peace activism and efforts to initiate peace with arch rival Pakistan. After India's first nuclear test in 1974, Desai helped restore friendly relations with Pakistan and vowed to avoid armed conflict such as Indo-Pakistani war of 1971.

2. D. Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India

Dr. Manmohan Singh, the two-time former Prime Minister of India (2004-2014), was the first Sikh in the office and also the first Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to be re-elected after completing a full five-year term. During his long career as an economist, academic and politician, he held many important positions. A brief timeline of his illustrious career is as below:

1952: B.A. Economics (Hons.), Panjab University – Second Class with first position in the University

1954: M.A. Economics, Panjab University – First Class with first position in the University

1957: Economic Tripos [First Class honours], University of Cambridge

1962: D. Phil., Nuffield College, University of Oxford. Topic: India’s Export Trends and Prospects for Self- Sustained Growth. [Published by Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1964]

1957-59: Senior Lecturer in Economics, Panjab University, Chandigarh

1959-63: Reader in Economics, Panjab University, Chandigarh

1963-65: Professor of Economics, Panjab University, Chandigarh

1966–69: UNCTAD, United Nations Secretariat, New York Chief, Financing for Trade Section

1969–71: Professor of International Trade, Delhi School of Economics

1971–72: Economic Adviser, Ministry of Foreign Trade, India

1972–76: Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance, India

Nov, 1976 – April, 1980: Secretary, Ministry of Finance Dept. of Economic Affairs, Government of India. Member [Finance], Atomic Energy Commission, Govt. of India. Member [Finance], Space Commission, Govt. of India

April, 1980 – Sept, 1982: Member-Secretary, Planning Commission, India

Sept, 1982 – Jan, 1985: Governor, Reserve Bank of India

Jan, 1985- July 1987: Dy. Chairman, Planning Commission of India

August, 1987 – Nov, 1990: Secretary General and Commissioner, South Commission (an independent economic policy think tank headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland)

Dec 1990 – March 1991: Advisor to Prime Minister of India on Economic Affairs

March 1991 - June 1991: Chairman, University Grants Commission

September, 1991: Elected Member of Rajya Sabha

June, 1995: Re-elected Member of Rajya Sabha for a term of six years

June 21, 1991- May 15, 1996: Finance Minister of India

August 1, 1996 - Dec 4, 1997: Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce, Rajya Sabha

June, 2001: Re-elected as member of Rajya Sabha for a Term of six years

March 21, 1998 – May 22,2004: Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha (Council of States) Parliament of India

May 22, 2004 – May 26, 2014: 13^th Prime Minister of India

Aug 19, 2019 – Till Date: Re-elected as member of Rajya Sabha for a Term of six years (From Rajasthan)

Dr Singh represented the state of Assam in the Rajya Sabha for five terms from 1991 to 2019.

For many, the watershed moment in Manmohan Singh’s glorious career came in 1991 when as the Finance Minister, he changed India forever with an emphatic declaration in Parliament that "no power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come" quoting Victor Hugo, the great French literary genius of the 19th century.

On July 24, 1991, Manmohan Singh - having full support of the often-ignored visionary PM PV Narsimha Rao - not only presented the Budget that changed India but with one big jolt, also broke the Nehruvian inertia of socialist economy.

3. B. Phulpur

Phulpur (located in Allahabad District in Uttar Pradesh) was India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's constituency till his death in 1964. Nehru was elected from Phulpur thrice between 1952 and 1962.

In 1962, Nehru famously defeated Ram Manohar Lohia of Socialist Party by a margin of more than 50,000 votes. After Jawaharlal Nehru's death, Phulpur was represented by Nehru's sister Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit from 1964 to 1968.

Besides Nehru, Phulpur has been represented by another Prime Minister of India - Vishwanath Pratap Singh, who won the 1971 Lok Sabha elections from Phulpur as a Congress candidate.

4. A. Indira Gandhi

Till date, only three people have become Prime Minister of India being a member of Rajya Sabha, the first being Indira Gandhi (on January 24, 1966) and the second H. D. Deve Gowda (June 1, 1996) and followed by Manmohan Singh (May 22, 2004).

Indira Gandhi became a Member of Rajya Sabha in August 1964 and served till February 1967. After Lal Bahadur Shastri's death on 11^th January, 1966, Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister of India on January 24, 1966. In 1967 General Elections, she was elected to the Lok Sabha for the very first time.

5. B. Keshubhai Patel

Narendra Modi was appointed Chief Minister of Gujarat on 7th October, 2001 due to incumbent Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel's failing health and poor public image following the earthquake in Bhuj in 2001. Modi was not even a Member of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly then. He entered the Gujarat state legislature on 24 February, 2002 by winning a by-election to the Rajkot (West) constituency.

Narendra Modi led Bharatiya Janata Party to win three consecutive Assembly Elections in Gujarat in 2002, 2007 and 2012 and remained as Chief Minister of Gujarat till 2014.

In September, 2013, Modi was named the BJP's candidate for Prime Minister in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. Bharatiya Janata Party alone won 282 Lok Sabha Seats in the 2014 General Elections, becoming the first party to win a majority of seats on its own since 1984 and Narendra Damodardas Modi was sworn in as the 14^th Prime Minister of India on 26 May, 2014. He became the first Prime Minister born after India's independence from the British Empire.