From Nehru to Modi via 13 others including Shastri, Indira, Rajiv, and Manmohan
Continuing Gopalakrishnan Gandhi’s fascinating tale of Independent India by Tissa Jayatillake Nehru had been a Prime Minister for 12 years when E.M.S. Namboodripad became the Chief Minister of Kerala in 1957, for the first time. Namboodripad’s was the first ever non-Congress government in the whole of India to take office after the general elections of […]
From 1947 to 1964, Jawaharlal Nehru served as India's Prime Minister for 17 years. During this time, several other Prime Ministers held the office, including S. Radhakrishnan, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and Manmohan Singh. The first non-Congress government to take office after a general election was led by E.M.S.
Namboodripad in Kerala in 1957. Nehru dismissed this government in 1959, and Indira Gandhi's influence in this decision may have contributed to her future rise to the Prime Ministerial position. Nehru's policies, particularly his left-of-center stance influenced by V.K. Krishna Menon, the Minister of Defence from 1957 to 1962, were met with criticism both from his admirers and detractors.
Menon was known to have weakened the morale of the Indian army and created dissent among senior officers. However, he also advocated for a negotiated settlement on the border issue between India and China, which could have potentially averted the 1962 conflict. Nehru's tenure as Prime Minister was marked by controversy and disagreement among those who held significant positions within the government.
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