The birthday of Mahatma Gandhi always overshadows that of a hardworking, honest, patriot Indian, a great leader who shares October 2 with Bapuji as his birthday. He was our ex-Prime Minster, Lal Bahadur Sastri, albeight for a short time.
If Lal Bahadur Sastri did not die that fateful day in January 1966, Rahul Gandhi would most likely be a mid level manager in some private company, only to boast about his great grand father being the first Prime Minister of India and grandma being a Central Minister, instead of being the CEO and Scion of Congress Inc. Only difference, the CEO of a company is accountable to its share holders, whereas Rahul Gandhi is accountable to none.
Lal Bahadur Sastri was a diminutive man with a towering personality. A charismatic person whose personal integraty was beyond question. During his one and half years of being at the helm of affairs, he could capture the imagination of millions of Indians. He resigned as Railway minister talking responsibility for a train crash, something inconceivable these days.
Thinking him as weak, Pakistan attacked India in 1965, soon to be resoundingly rebuffed. His slogan of the time JAI JAWAN, JAI KISAAN (Hail Soldiers, Hail Farmers) swiftly yielded results in form of yield by farmers which was enough to wipe out India's perennial grain shortage and in the form of motivating soldiers who gave a befitting response to our attacking western neighbor by reaching the outskirts of the city of Lahore. It raised him to the zenith of popularity which unfortunately didn't last long due to his untimely death in January, 1966.
Sastri's premature death brought Indira Gandhi to power, who soon consolidated her position by making the Congress Party her family fiefdom or BOPA ZAMINDARI (Father's feudal property). Soon others emulated her, except the Communists (though I have no love for them, I admire them for resisting the family fiefdom politics) and to some extent BJP, almost all parties, regional or otherwise are now family held Inc.
From the Badal dynasty of Punjab in North to Karunanidhi dynasty in South, from the Biju Dynasty in East, to Siv Sena Dynasty in West, we have examples aplenty. I am sure the history of India would have been different and our generation who were born in late 1960s and early 1970s would have seen a different India today, if Sastri Jee did not die on that fateful cold Soviet night in Tashkent of 11th January 1966.
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