Mahatma
Gandhi
(1869 - 1948)
Mohandas Karamchand, Indian political and spiritual
leader, b. Porbandar. Gandhi was
born in Porbandar, a town in the north-west of India,
to a rich family of the vaisya, or merchant caste.
He went to England as a young boy where he trained
as a barrister and took his bar finals in 1891. Here
he came into contact with Christianity and this influenced
his understanding and dealings with the social evils
of India, particularly the treatment of the Untouchable
caste and women.
His political career started in South Africa. Appalled
by the treatment of Indians he organised his first
peaceful protests and succeeded in repealing some
of the discriminatory laws. He also worked as a stretcher
carrier in the Boer War, preaching self-denial and
pacifism.
On
his return to India, he travelled the countryside
on foot, talking and learning from the peasants. He
joined the Indian National Congress turning it from
a largely powerless political organisation into a
mass movement with millions of ordinary peasant followers.
He founded the Sabarmati Ashram near Ahmadabad which
was part school, part refuge, and part headquarters
for the independence movement. He came to international
attention in 1930 with the Salt March which led to
his first arrest and imprisonment. Time named him
Man of the Year and the following year he was released
from jail. The coverage brought him more supporters.
In
1942 he threatened a mass campaign of civil disobedience
and was again imprisoned. India rioted so his power
only grew. However whenever his followers failed to
contain their violence he would atone for it with
periods of fasting and self-denial. The authorities
were terrified he would die in jail, and he was released
after 21 months.
In
1947, after World War II, India was granted independence
as Britain no longer had the will or resources to
oppose Gandhi. However Britain introduced partition,
dividing India into the main Hindu region and creating
Pakistan, a Moslem country. This was a great disappointment
to Gandhi as his lifelong aim had also been to bring
together these divided religions of India. In his
talks, he would quote widely from different religions
to increase mutual understanding. Over a million people
died in the rioting that followed partition.
He
continued to work to reunite India and Pakistan but
the masses would no longer follow him as before. Four
months after partition, on January 30 1948, a right-wing
Hindu nationalist shot him. His methods were not forgotten
though and leaders such as Martin Luther King and
Nelson Mandela have followed closely where he led.
KEY
WORKS INCLUDE:
Repealed several South African discriminatory laws
Turned the Indian National Congress into a mass movement
Helped gain Indian Independence from Colonial rule
(1947)
Subhash Chandra Bose:
(1897 - 1945)
Subash Chandra Bose was a great patriot and
a determined fighter of national freedom. He was born
at Cuttack (Orissa). Unlike other prominent leaders
of the Indian freedom struggle, Subash strongly believed
that an armed rebellion was necessary to wrest independence
from the British. Subash Chandra Bose is popularly
known as 'Netaji'. In 1943, he organized the Indian
National Army (I.N.A). He gave to the nation the Salutation
and slogan of 'Jai Hind'. The famous words of Subash
Chandra Bose are "Give me blood, I will give
you freedom". He was posthumously decorated with
the title 'Bharat Ratna' in 1992. However, the Supreme
Court of India declared on 4th August, 1997 that the
press communiqué dated January 23, 1992, used
from the Rashtrapati Bhavan to confirm Bharat Ratna
"Posthumously" on Netaji should be treated
as cancelled as this proposal was dropped by Government
in deference to the sentiments expressed by Public
and his family members. He is said to have died in
an air-crash in 1945.
Abul Kalam Azad 
(1888 - 1958)
Though he remains an icon of secular nationalism in
modern-day India, Azad was actually born in Mecca
in 1888 and lived there till he was about seven. His
father Khairuddin, a scholar-sufi originally from
Calcutta, was persuaded by his Calcuttan disciples
to return back to that city. Azad secretly cultivated
a taste for Urdu books and Persian poetry and even
learnt to play the sitar. Around this time he also
experienced a revulsion against the pir-worship of
his father’s disciples and a diminished desire
to succeed his father as pir. During
his later teenage years he seems to have come into
close contact with the Hindu revolutionaries of Bengal.
A combination of brief travel to the Middle East and
his Arabic reading also exposed him more deeply to
the reformist ideas of Sheikh Abduh of Egypt and the
uncompromising nationalism and anti-imperialism of
Mustafa Kamil. After this period of spiritual homelessness,
Azad, by the end of 1909, had an emotional/mystical
experience that renewed his faith in religion and
galvanised his personality in a dramatic way. Following
this ‘conversion,’ Azad’s career
really began to take-off in 1912 with the appearance
of his Urdu journal Al-Hilal. Though the journal was
ambiguous about specific methods of cooperation and
post-Independence political arrangements, Hindu-Muslim
unity was a sentiment he had been partial to from
very early on in his life. This is evident in his
poignant 1910 essay on the broad-minded Sufi saint
Sarmad. .
When
World War I broke out in Europe, the British government,
viewing the journal as seditious, expelled Azad from
Bengal and placed him under internment in Ranchi for
three and a half years. A few weeks after his release,
he met Mahatma Gandhi in Delhi for the first time.
Azad came to realize that in politics he could only
be guided by the general principles of his religion
and his knowledge of Indian Muslim history, rather
than through invoking specific textual injunctions.
Azad was imprisoned twice in a row during this period,
and then released in 1936 along with the other Congress
leaders. It was during these periods of imprisonment
that the Maulana was able to complete the first edition
of his famous Tarjuman al-Quran, his Urdu translation
and commentary on the Quran. A second expanded edition
was published during the 1940s. This incomplete translation
and commentary would end up being his most definitive,
though controversial, theological statement on how
Indian Muslims could live out their religion in a
religiously pluralist and politically secular environment.
Following
the passing away of M.A. Ansari in 1936, Azad became
the most prominent Muslim in the Congress. By 1939
he was elected President of the party, though he was
not the first Muslim to occupy that position. Azad’s
presidential address at the Ramgarh session of the
Congress in 1940 occurred just a few days before Jinnah’s
historic Pakistan Resolution, and, in addition to
articulating the point of view of the nationalist
Muslims, became a classic statement on Indian secularism
and a refutation of the two-nations theory.
Azad
was imprisoned for a fifth time in 1940, following
a limited campaign of civil disobedience, and released
a year later. By 1942, and following the more comprehensive
Quit India Movement, he, along with the other Congress
leaders, was imprisoned again. Upon his release in
1946, Azad remained Congress President throughout
the War years.
The
Maulana reluctantly relinquished the Congress presidency
in 1946, hoping that this would open an avenue between
the Congress and the League; the latter party had
refused to acknowledge a Muslim presence within the
former one. He kept out of the coalition government
formed that year, but in 1947, at Gandhi’s urging,
he became Minister of Education.
Following
Independence, he would hold the post of Minister of
Education for ten years. His last years were marked
by sadness and loneliness, a consequence of a life
lived so individualistically. Abul Kalam Azad died
in 1958 of a stroke and was buried in a dignified
corner in Old Delhi near the Jama Masjid. It is a
great irony that, while possessing a thorough Islamic
training, Azad ended up espousing a secular nationalism
informed by personal religious sensibilities, while
his opponent Jinnah, a modernist with a minimal religious
upbringing, ended up vying for a separate Muslim state
informed by purely political considerations.
Nehru,
Jawaharlal
(1889 - 1964)
Nehru, Jawaharlal (1889-1964), Indian nationalist
leader and statesman who was the first prime minister
of independent India (1947-1964) and a leader of the
Nonaligned Movement during the Cold War. Nehru was
born in Allahabad, the son of Motilal Nehru, a wealthy
Brahman lawyer whose family had originally come from
Kashmir, and Swarup Rani Nehru After private tutoring,
Nehru went to Britain with his family. When his family
left in 1905, Nehru stayed to attend the Harrow School
and then Trinity College at the University of Cambridge,
where he studied science and read widely. After studying
law at the Inner Temple in London, he returned to
India in 1912 and practiced law for several years
without enthusiasm. In 1916 he married Kamala Kaul,
and in 1917 they had a daughter, Indra. In 1919 Nehru
joined the Indian National Congress, a political organization
working for greater autonomy for India, which was
then a British colony. Nehru became devoted to the
organization’s new leader, Mohandas Gandhi.
During this period he was imprisoned many times for
civil disobedience. While in prison, he wrote his
major books, Toward Freedom (1936), an autobiography;
The Discovery of India (1946); and Glimpses of World
History (1934), a series of letters to his daughter,
Indira. He was a talented and expressive writer in
English, and he and India's freedom struggle became
more widely known through the extensive circulation
of his writings in the West.
By the end of World War II (1939-1945), Nehru was
recognized as Gandhi’s heir apparent in the
Congress. Although he and Gandhi differed somewhat
in their views of the world, they remained personally
and politically close throughout Gandhi's lifetime.
When the British formed an interim Indian government
in 1946 preliminary to full independence, by Gandhi's
choice Nehru became its prime minister. As head of
the interim government, Nehru participated in negotiations
for a united and federated India that were held in
1946 between the British rulers, the Congress, and
the Muslim League. The parties were unable to agree
on a structure for federation, but the British government
moved to turn over power to its Indian successors
anyway. Lord Louis Mountbatten, the last viceroy of
India, worked out a procedure for the transfer of
power, advocating the division of British India between
India and Pakistan as the fastest and most workable
solution. Nehru reluctantly agreed to the partition.
Nehru greatly helped in revising and implementing
Mountbatten's plan and became personally close to
Mountbatten and his wife, Edwina. At Mountbatten's
urging, Nehru agreed to maintain India’s membership
in the British-sponsored Commonwealth of Nations,
setting a precedent for other former British colonies.
Nehru became independent India’s first prime
minister on August 15, 1947, and remained its leader
until his death in 1964. Upon taking office he moved
to implement moderate socialist economic reforms by
means of centralized economic planning. Nehru personally
presided over the government Planning Commission that
drew up successive five-year plans, beginning in 1951,
for the development of India’s economy. In the
decade and a half after independence, these plans
stressed industrial development and national ownership
of several key areas of the economy. Nehru also backed
plans for community development projects and the creation
of many educational institutions. Throughout the Nehru
years, India’s economy achieved steady growth
and its agricultural production increased, though
not as rapidly as many hoped. Nehru also encouraged
the development of India's nuclear energy program.
Nehru served as foreign minister throughout his tenure
as prime minister. One of the first foreign policy
challenges he faced was a conflict with Pakistan over
the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in October
1947.
As the Cold War developed in the 1950s, Nehru shaped
a foreign policy of “positive neutrality”
for his nation, attempting to defuse international
tensions without joining either of the international
power blocs led by the United States and the Soviet
Union. He became one of the key spokesmen of the nonaligned
nations of Asia and Africa, mostly former colonies
which, like India, wanted to avoid dependence on any
major power.
India’s crushing defeat at the hands of the
chinese stimulated a reevaluation of India’s
defense capabilities, and Nehru was forced to call
for the resignation of Defense Minister V. K. Krishna
Menon, a close personal friend. Despite his policy
of nonalignment, Nehru requested equipment assistance
from the American military during this crisis, and
it was granted through the offices of Ambassador John
Kenneth Galbraith and President John F. Kennedy.The
Chinese affair had a devastating personal impact on
Nehru, whose health declined rapidly. In January 1964
Nehru suffered a stroke; he died in May.
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
(1891 - 1956)
Dr. Ambedkar was the main architect of the Indian
Constitution. He was born in a very poor low caste
family of Madhya PradeshIn U.S.A., he did his M.A.
in 1915 and Ph.D. in 1916. From 1918 to 1920, he worked
as a Professor of Law. Dr. Ambedkar set up his legal
practice at the Mumbai High Court. Ambedkar was the
main inspiration behind the inclusion of special provision
in the Constitution of India for the development of
Schedule Caste people. Dr. Ambedkar was the Law Minister
of India from 1947 to 1951. He took part in the Satyagraha
of untouchables at Nasik in 1930 for opening the Hindu
temples to them.
Dr.
Ambedkar was emancipator of the 'untouchables' and
crusader for social justice. This liberator of the
down trodden was affectionately called "Babasaheb".
He was posthumously awarded 'Bharat Ratna' in the
year 1990.
Indra
Gandhi
(1917 - 1984) 
Beginning her political career in the struggle for
independence from Britain, Indra Gandhi came to dominate
Indian politics in her last two decades. Except for
a 22-month interval in the late 1970s, she was prime
minister from 1966 until her assassination in 1984.
Born
Indra Priyadarshini Nehru in Allahabad, she was the
only child of Jawaharlal Nehru, who became India's
first prime minister in 1946. Following a childhood
she described as an abnormal one, full of loneliness
and insecurity, and schooling in India and Switzerland,
she entered Somerville College, Oxford, in 1938 but
returned to India in 1941 without taking a degree.
In
London Indra had become re-acquainted with Feroze
Gandhi. She had known Gandhi, a journalist from Allahabad
who was unrelated to Mahatma Gandhi, in her childhood.
In March 1942 they married, despite opposition because
she was a Hindu and he a Parsi. Six months later they
were arrested for their support of the nationalist
movement. On their release in 1943 they returned to
Allahabad, where they were to live until 1946 and
where their two sons, Rajiv and Sanjay, were born.
In
1955 Mrs. Gandhi joined the working committee of the
ruling Congress Party. Following Nehru's death in
1964, she joined the cabinet of Lal Bahadur Shastri
as minister of information. In 1966, after the sudden
death of Shastri, Congress Party leaders made her
prime minister, in the belief that they would be able
to control her. However, she successfully organized
her own supporters, who were opposed to the conservative
wing of the party, and won decisive election victories
in 1971 and 1972.
After
her strong stand during the crisis with Pakistan in
1971, which resulted in the creation of the new state
of Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan), Mrs. Gandhi
seemed unassailable, but India began to experience
economic and law-and-order problems. In 1975, accused
of corruption, she imposed a state of emergency and
postponed elections, which she later (1977) lost.
However, subsequent corruption charges and imprisonment
did not stop Mrs. Gandhi and her wing of the party,
renamed Congress (I), from winning a landslide victory
in the election of January 1980.
Among
developing and nonaligned nations Mrs. Gandhi had
considerable influence and respect, but she lost Western
support over her refusal to denounce the Soviet invasion
of Afghanistan: she also failed to deal effectively
with growing religious violence within India. In 1980
her younger son and political heir-apparent, Sanjay,
was killed in an aeroplane crash. Thereafter she turned
for assistance to her elder son, Rajiv Gandhi, who
became her eventual successor.
On
October 31, 1984, Mrs. Gandhi was assassinated in
New Delhi by two Sikh members of her special security
force. This murder was apparently in retaliation for
the army's 1984 raid on the Golden Temple at Amritsar,
the holiest Sikh shrine and headquarters of extremists
demanding greater autonomy for the Punjab.
Rajiv Gandhi
(1944 - 1991)
Rajiv Gandhi was born on August 20, 1944 in Mumbai.
Born to parents, Firoz Gandhi and Priyadarshini Gandhi,
he was heir to the political heritage of his mother
and grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru, the architect of
modern India. He married Sonia Maino, an Italian girl,
whom he met during his student days in Cambridge.
Rajiv was a pilot by profession. He was never interested
in politics but the sudden death of his younger brother
Sanjay in a glider accident in Delhi steered Rajiv
Gandhi into it.
He won the election from Amethi and became a Member
of Parliament in 1981. He was appointed general secretary
of the Congress party in 1983. On the October 31,
1984 he took the oath as the Prime Minister of the
country. Rajiv Gandhi was the youngest Prime Minister
of the World's largest Democracy. He strengthened
India's political, economic and cultural bonds with
other countries. He was the first politician at the
helm to criticize the power brokers who ruled the
roost in the ruling party. Rajiv Gandhi found himself
in many controversies during the last two years of
his Prime Minister ship.
He
met a tragic end on 21st may 1991 at Sriperumbudur,
by an LTTE (Liberal tigers of Tamil Eelam) Suicide
Bomber named Tanu, when he was attending an election
meeting.
The Government of India conferred the highest honour
of the land "Bharat Ratna" on him posthumously.
Many
foundations have been established to cherish his memory
for the welfare of society in the fields of Science
and Technology, Arts and Culture, and Health and Medicine.
Atal
Behari Vajpayee
(1924
- )
Atal Behari Vajpayee is an Indian politician and former
Prime Minister of India (1996, 1998-2004). He began
his career as a journalist, entering politics as an
unsuccessful parliamentary candidate in 1950. He was
(1951) a founding member of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh,
the Hindu nationalist precursor of the Bharatiya Janata
party (BJP). An able orator, Vajpayee won election
to parliament in 1957; in 1975 he was imprisoned for
opposing Prime Minister Indira Gandhi 's state of
emergency. During the tenure (1977-79) of the coalition
government that defeated Gandhi and her party, Vajpayee
served as foreign minister and became the head (1979-86,
1992-) of the newly formed BJP. When the BJP won the
largest number of parliamentary seats in 1996, Vajpayee
became prime minister; failing to form a coalition,
he resigned 13 days later. After the 1998 elections
gave the BJP a greater representation in parliament,
Vajpayee again became prime minister; he was returned
to office in 1999.
Vajpayee
has softened some of the more strident nationalist
and anti-Muslim rhetoric of other BJP members and
has pressed for the continuation of free-market reforms,
the eradication of untouchability, and the rights
of women. He also advocates the development of India
as a nuclear power; several nuclear tests were conducted
in 1998. He has written a number of books, including
collections of his speeches, a work on Indian foreign
policy, and poetry.
Sonia
Gandhi
(1946
- )
Sonia
Gandhi (née Maino) is the leader of the Indian
National Congress party in India. She was born an
Italian citizen. She met Rajiv Gandhi, who later became
Prime Minister of India, while he was studying abroad
at Cambridge University in England. They were married
in 1968, after which Sonia took up residence in India.
She
accepted Indian citizenship in 1983. She did not enter
politics until after her husband's assassination on
May 21, 1991. Following his death, she received great
pressure from the Congress party to enter politics,
to continue the Congress' dynastic tradition of being
led by a member of the Jawaharlal Nehru-Indira Gandhi
family.
In
1998 she formally entered politics, assuming the helm
of the decaying Congress party and declaring herself
a candidate for Prime Minister. Largely through her
family name, she was able to draw large crowds and
nearly single-handedly revitalized the party. However,
she remained a somewhat enigmatic figure, and her
opposition (chiefly the Bharatiya Janata Party) constantly
played off the fact that she was foreign-born and
was not a fluent Hindi speaker until she entered politics.
Bal
Thackeray
(1924 - )
Bal
Thackeray, who turned 83 in 2007, began his career
as a political cartoonist in a Bombay newspaper in
the 1950s. He formed the Shiv Sena in 1966 as a "sons
of the soil" movement, to fight for the rights
of native Maharashtrians who, he believed, were under
threat from other ethnic migrants. Mr Thackeray commands
an almost fanatical following among his party members.
Although
he has never stood for election, he wields power over
Bombay through a tightly controlled network of party
cells, which can be activated at his command.
Dr. Abdul Kalam Azad
(1931 - )
Dr.
Avul Pakir Jainulabhudin Adbul Kalam, the twelfth
President of India, is rightfully termed as the father
of India's missile technology. He was born to parents
Jainulabdeen Marakayar and Ashiamma on 15th October,
1931, at Dhanushkodi in Rameshwaram district, Tamil
Nadu. Dr. Kalam as an eminent Aeronautical Engineer,
contributed for the development of India’s first
Satellite launch vehicle SLV-3 and the missiles like
the Trishul, Agni, Pritvi etc.
After passing out as a graduate aeronautical engineer,
Kalam joined Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL),
Bangalore as a trainee and later joined as a technical
assistant in the Directorate of Technical Development
and Production of the Ministry of Defence.
In
the 1960's Kalam joined the Vikram Sarabhai Space
Centre at Thumba in Kerala. He played a major role
in the centre's evolution to a key hub of space research
in India, helping to develop the country's first indigenous
satellite-launch vehicle. During 1963-82, he served
the ISRO in various capacities. In 1982, he rejoined
DRDO as Director, and conceived the Integrated Guided
Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) for five indigenous
missiles. Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has established an
Advanced Technology Research Centre, called 'Research
Centre Imarat' to undertake development in futuristic
missile technology areas. He also served as the Principal
Scientific Adviser to the Defence minister and later
the Government of India. After retiring from the post
Dr. Kalam joined Annamalai University till he became
the President in January 2002.
Dr. APJ abdul Kalam has been awarded Padma Bhushan
in 1981, Padma Vibhushan in 1990 and India's Highest
civilian Award 'The Bharat Ratna' in 1997. Other prestigious
awards include Dr.Biren Roy Space Award, Om Prakash
Basin Award for Science and Technology, National Nehru
Award, Arya Bhatta Award etc. Dr. Kalam was conferred
with the degree of Doctor of Science (D.Sc. Honoris-causa)
by twenty eight universities. Dr. Kalam, a bachelor
is a connoisseur of classical Carnatic music. He plays
veena in his leisure. He writes poetry in Tamil, his
mother tongue. Seventeen of his poems were translated
into English and published in 1994 as a book entitled
'My Journey'. He reads the Quran and the Bhagavad
Gita with equal devotion. He is also the Author of
the books 'India 2020 : A vision for the New Millennium'(1998
with YS Rajan), 'Wings of Fire : an Autobiography'
and 'Ignited Minds – unleashing the power within
India'.
Puratchi Thalaivar DR. M.G.R
(1917 - 1987)
Puratchi
Thalaivar Dr MGR was the most popular star of the
silver screen. respected by the people, and deified
by his supporters. Puratchi Thalaivar Dr MGR strongly
believed that an actor need not be an actor alone.
He should also serve the people through his acting
and artistes should dedicate themselves to serving
the people. Puratchi Thalaivar Dr MGR had a close
look at the world of politics and jumped whole hog
into it. A lot of people advised him against this
move. But Dr MGR decided that politics was one field
from which he could serve the people who meant more
to him than anything else in the world.The AIADMK
founded by Puratchi Thalaivar Dr MGR, is now in its
29th year. Over the last 25 years, the AIADMK has
been ruling Tamil Nadu for a majority of the period,
to the extent that The recent history of Tamil Nadu
is entwined with the history of the AIADMK bounded
as it is by mutual love, attachment and respect for
the people. Little wonder that the party has made
a significant impact on the body polity of the nation.
Puratchi Thalaivi J. Jayalalithaa
Selvi
J. Jayalalithaa enrolled herself as a member of the
AIADMK on June 4, 1982 at the behest of Puratchi Thalaivar
Dr MGR. Her firm entry into politics was in the same
year on the occasion of the Party Conference at Cuddalore.
In the conference, Dr MGR asked her to speak on the
subject, Praiseworthy Qualities of Women.Selvi JJayalalithaa
gained importance in the AIADMK by her tireless work
and inborn capacity. She gained her political credentials
by dint of her hard and dedicated work and was appointed
the Propaganda Secretary of the AIADMK on January
28, 1983. Her rise in the party and her close rapport
with partymen led to her being fondly referred to
as Puratchi Thalaivi.
Puratchi
Thalaivar Dr MGR utilised her services for the first
time on February 20, 1983, during the bye-elections
to the Tiruchendur constituency. At that time R M
Veerappan was Minister of Hindu Religious and Charitable
Endowments, and had been charged with having killed
an official of the Tiruchendur Temple and looted the
Temple Hundi. The situation was tense. Bypassing the
other leaders, Puratchi Thalaivi was entrusted with
the propaganda work in the area. She endeared herself
so much with the local people that they affectionately
began calling her as Amma. Having undertaken this
onerous task, she went from village to village in
this Constituency and gathered support for the candidate
of the AIADMK. Muslim women, confined to their homes,
came out to greet her. The AIADMK consequently emerged
victorious in the elections.
George
Fernandes
(1930
- )
George Fernandes is a Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha)
and President of the Samata Party, a State party whose
stronghold is in the Bihar state and which secured
twelve seats in the 1999 Lokh Sabha. As Industry Minister
in the late 1970s, Fernandes kicked Coca-Cola out
of the country for violating investment laws. As president
of the All India Railway Men's Federation in 1973,
Fernandes led India's largest railroad strike, which
was brutally suppressed. Fernandes and thousands of
others were imprisoned. He was elected to Parliament
from prison in 1977. Defence Minister of the coalition
of Prime Minister Vajapayee, he resigned in March
16 2001 while denying any involvement in a weapons
procurement scandal revealed by Internet journalists,
his portfolio was then assigned to the Foreign Affairs
Minister. He remained the convenor of the coalition
until he was reinstated in his function in October
2001 till 2004.
Laloo
Prasad 
(1948 - )
He
is the man running the Bihar government through his
wife- Rabri Devi. His peppered speeches and mannerisms
keep him in the limelight.
His Loktantrik Morcha formed with Mulayam Singh Yadav
has disintegrated over differences of opinion in supporting
the Congress to form a government at the center in
the wake of Vajpayee defeat at the vote of confidence.
Laloo wanted to have nothing to do with the Congress.
The BJP-Samata combine in Bihar is his biggest challenge
in the coming elections. A shrewd politician, he has
not led the fodder scam pull him down. Out on bail,
he is working out alliances for his party, the Rashtriya
Janata Dal for the coming elections. Born
in the year 1948, he was elected to the 6th Lok Sabha
at an early age of 29 years in 1977. In 1989, he became
the leader of the opposition after acting as the Bihar
Legislative Assembly for two terms. He held the position
of Chief Minister of the Bihar Legislative Assembly
from 1990-97. He was re-elected to the 12th Lok Sabha
for a third term.Quite
unassuming, he has a Law degree, and his interests
include reading of books on thinkers and revolutionaries,
writing and debating. He has also written articles
on politics and economics.
Jyoti
Basu
(1914 - )
Jyoti Basu, the chief minister of West Bengal for
five consecutive terms, has proved himself as the
most popular leader of the CPM. He was close to becoming
India's prime minister but for his hesitation to don
the mantle. Basu was with the CPI before joining the
CPM. Over the years he has taken the CPM to invincible
heights of politics in West Bengal. Thanks to his
success, substantial funds flowed into the state from
the Central Finance ministry, enormously increasing
his prestige in the state. After 40 years as a politician
mired in panchayat and trade union politics, Basu
is now looking towards the Centre more keenly.
The
quintessential partyman also wants his party to look
into the future and understand that rigidity cannot
bring a party to the Centre. His bold steps included
inviting NRI investment, India's first Metro rail
project and the initiatives in industrial development
which included big names like the Ambanis. This also
made people doubt his credentials as a communist.
But his bold intiatives reaped good results adding
to his popularity.
Mayawati
(1956 - )
Thrice the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati
has won elections on the Dalit plank. Affiliated to
the Bahujan Samaj Party and quite vociferous of her
dislike for the “brahmins, banias and thakurs’,
the lady had no qualms of aligning with the Bharatiya
Janata Party in 1995 for political gains.
Her
tenure as chief minister was quite controversial.
From extreme high-handedness to renaming town and
districts with Dalit names to her open criticism of
touching one of India’s softest spots- Mahatma
Gandhi, she ensured the media attention.Mayawati
holds an LL.B. degree and has been an active social
worker for the downtrodden and the Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes. She has been member of the Committee
on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
She has also held the position of Chief Minister of
Uttar Pradesh from June-Oct. 1995, March-Sept.1997
and 2002-2003. She was member of the Rajya Sabha from
1994 to ’96.
Chandra
Babu Naidu:
(1950 - )
Mr.
Naidu has been active in politics since his student
days. He held various positions in his college and
organized a number of social activities. Following
the 1977 cyclone which devastated Diviseema taluk
of Krishna district, he actively organized donations
and relief material from Chittoor district for the
cyclone victims. Mr. Naidu has been evincing keen
interest in rural development activities in general
and the upliftment of the poor and downtrodden sections
of society in particular. He
was elected to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly
in 1978 from Chandragiri constituency in Chittoor
district. He served as a Director of the AP Small
Scale Industries Development Corporation for some
time. He subsequently became Minister and field the
portfolios of Archives, Cinematography, Technical
Education, Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development, Public
libraries and Minor litigation between 1980 and 1983.
Mr.
Naidu was General Secretary of Telugu Desam Party
since 1985, in which capacity he was instrumental
in building up an effective party organization from
the grass roots.
He
was elected again to the State Legislature from Kuppam,
constituency of Chittoor district in 1989. In 1994
he was re-elected to the Assembly from Kuppam constituency
with a large majority of 57,000 votes and held the
important portfolios of Revenue and Finance. During
this tenure Mr. Naidu systematically introduced transparency
in Government thus breaking the tradition of inordinate
secrecy in the Finance department. The mantle of leadership
fell on the shoulders of Mr. Naidu at a most critical
juncture in the state's politics. Following a popular
upsurge in the party Mr. Naidu, was unanimously elected
as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh on 1st September
1995 and remained on his post till 2004.
Mr.
Naidu holds the record of being the longest served
chief minister of Andhra Pradesh and is also the founder
of Heritage Foods. He currently is the leader of the
opposition in the Andhra Pradesh state assembly and
the chief of Telugu Desam Party, the second largest
legislative party in Andhra Pradesh.
