I. K. Gujral

I. K. Gujral Biography

I. K. Gujral was the Indian politician who served as the 12^th Prime Minister of India. He was the first Rajya Sabha member to become a Prime Minister. He was born on 4^th December 1919 in the town of Jhelum in Western Punjab which is now in Pakistan. He took part in the Indian freedom struggle and went to prison for taking part in Quit India Movement.

His parents are Avtar Narain Gujral and Pushpa Gujral. He studied B. Com then M. A., and then finished his doctorate degree. He got his graduation from the University of Pakistan and Forman Christian College University. He took part in Indian freedom struggle from his age of 13. He married Shiela Gujral on 26^th May 1945 and has two sons Naresh Gujral and Vishal Gujral and has two granddaughters Deeksha and Diva and one grandson Anichya Gujral. He speaks Urdu fluently and writes Urdu couplets during his leisure time. His brother Satish Gujral is a painter and an architect.

He served as the Minister of Information and Broadcasting in 1975. Then he was appointed as the Ambassador of India to Soviet Union. He left Congress and joined Janata Dal in 1980. He contested in 1989 elections and was elected from the Jalandhar constituency in Punjab. He served in the cabinet of the then Prime Minister V. P. Singh as the Minister of External Affairs. He had to tackle the issue of 1989 kidnapping of Rabaiya Sayeed. He had to meet the Iraq’s Saddam Hussain during the Gulf War of January 1991 as representative of India.

In 1992 he was elected to Rajya Sabha. He was again made as the Minister of External Affairs after the 1996 elections. He became the Prime Minister of India in 21^st April 1997. He continued with the support of Congress party. He set five principles called Gujral Doctrine which is mainly made to establish a good rapport with the neighboring countries and settle the disputes through peaceful negotiations. He retired from active politics after 1999. 

He was suffering from age related problems for more than two months and passed away on 30th November 2012 due to multi-organ failure. He was 92 years old during his death.

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Updated: December 08, 2012