MORARJI DESAI

'Morarji Ranchhodji Desai' () (February 29, 1896 – April 10, 1995) was an Indian freedom fighter and the first Prime Minister that did not belong to the Indian Congress Party. He is the only Indian to receive the highest civilian awards from both India and Pakistan, namely the Bharat Ratna and Nishaan-e-Pakistan.

Contents

Early life

In government

Split of 1969

Prime Minister

Retirement and death

Feud with RAW

CIA & Desai

External links

Early life

Morarji Desai was born into an Anavil Brahmin family in Bhadeli, Valsad in Bombay Presidency (now in Gujarat). After graduating from Wilson College, Mumbai, he joined the civil service in Gujarat. Later, he left the service of the British in 1924 and joined the civil disobedience movement against British rule in India in 1930. He spent many years in jail during the freedom struggle and owing to his sharp leadership skills and tough spirit, he became a favorite amongst freedom-fighters and an important leader of the Indian National Congress in Gujarat. When provincial elections were held in 1934 and 1937, Desai was elected and served as the Revenue Minister and Home Minister of the then Bombay Presidency.

In government

Before the independence of India, he became Mumbai's Home Minister and later was elected as Chief Minister of Bombay in 1952. The state was home to Marathi linguistic movements, with calls for the creation of a separate linguistic state. Considered as a tough leader, Desai was also known for pioneering beliefs and enforcing strict discipline and authority and thus possessed a radical mindsetg. By Desai's orders in 1960, a peaceful demonstration by the Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti was fired upon by the police resulting in the deaths of 105 demonstrators. Many innocent people were killed in the incident leading to public outrage that shook the central government. The incident led to the formation of the present State of Maharashtra.
As Home Minister, Desai outlawed any portrayals of indececy (which included "kissing" scenes) in films and theatrical productions. Although a staunch Gandhian, Desai was socially conservative, pro-business, and in favor of free enterprise reforms, as opposed to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's socialistic policies.
Rising in Congress leadership, Desai was at odds with Prime Minister Nehru and his allies, and with Nehru's age and health flailing, he was considered as a possible contender for the position of Prime Minister. Outflanked in the leadership contest after Nehru's death in 1964 by the Nehruvian Lal Bahadur Shastri, Desai remained content to build support within the ranks.
After Shastri's death in 1966, he contested for Prime Minister and fought a closely-contested election with Indira Gandhi. Desai obtained 169 votes but lost to Indira Gandhi who garnered 351.

Split of 1969

Initially Desai stayed out of the Cabinet, biding his time. As the young Indira Gandhi
s government became embroiled in controversy following a poor harvest, currency devaluation, and rising disenchantment in the country, Desai's influence grew in strength and he returned to the Cabinet in 1967. He demanded the powerful position as the Minister for Home Affairs, but he settled for the Ministry for Finance, with the added title of Deputy Prime Minister. Relations between Desai and the young Prime Minister were strained at best.
In 1969, Indira Gandhi and her allies engineered a major schism in the Congress Party, and her leftist supporters within the Congress Party formed the Congress (R), later to become the Congress (I) Party. Desai and the rest of the Congress establishment cohesed to form the Congress (O) Party. But in the General Elections held in 1971, the Congress (O) was drubbed owing to Indira Gandhi's popularity as a wartime leader. Desai remained Leader of the Opposition that was viewed as a group of old men adhering to freedom-era legacies.
When Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was convicted in 1974 of wrongfully using government machinery for election work and corruption, Desai joined Jaya Prakash Narayan in organizing mass protests throughout the country calling for her resignation. In a show of intolerance towards any sort of opposition, Indira Gandhi declared Emergency and had all the opposition leaders including Desai arrested in 1975.
When Indira called for elections in 1977, many opposition groups, including the Congress (O), joined with longtime rivals, regional parties and blocs of rival ideologies to form the Janata Party. It won 356 seats, a near-absolute majority and for the first time since independence, the dominance of the ruling Congress party was broken. Morarji Desai finally came into office as the Prime Minister when J.P. Narayan picked him as the man most likely to keep the coalition united.
At the time, he was 81 years old but still healthy and vigorous, without any particular ailments.

Prime Minister

Desai led a fractious coalition government, and thus failed to achieve much owing to continuous in-wrangling and much controversy. With no party in leadership of the coalition, rival groups vied to unseat Desai. Controversial trials of prominent Congress leaders, including Indira Gandhi over Emergency-era abuses worsened the fortunes of his administration. Desai worked to improve relations with neighbours and arch-rivals Pakistan and restored normal relations with China, for the first time since the 1962 war. He communicated with Zia-ul-Haq and established friendly relations and diplomatic relations were also re-established with China. His Government undid many amendments made to the constitution during emergency and made it difficult for any future Government to impose National emergency.
Since India's first nuclear test in 1974, Desai kept India's nuclear reactors stating "they will never be used for atomic bombs, and I will see to it if I can help it".[1] In 1977, the Carter administration sold India, heavy water and uranium for its nuclear reactors but required American on-site inspection of nuclear materials. Desai declined, seeing the American stance as contradictory, in light of it's own nuclear arsenal. [2]

Retirement and death

In 1979, Charan Singh pulled out of the Janata Party, forcing Desai to resign from office and retire from politics at the age of 83. He lived in the city of Mumbai, and died at the age of 99. He had been honoured much in his last years as the last great living freedom-fighter of his generation.
Morarji Desai was a strict follower of Mahatma Gandhi's principles and a moralist.

Feud with RAW

Morarji Desai had described the RAW as the praetorian guard of Indira Gandhi and had promised to stop all activities of the RAW after obtaining the prime ministership. B Raman, the former head of the Counter-Terrorism Division of India's external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW),reveals that, in an unguarded moment, Indian prime minister Morarji Desai indiscreetly told Pakistani dictator Zia ul-Haq that he was aware of Islamabad's nuclear schemes.

CIA & Desai

Seymour Hersh published a book in which he accused Morarji Desai of being on the CIA payroll during his tenure as Deputy Prime Minister of India. "Desai was a paid informer for the CIA and was considered one of the Agency's most important `assets'," wrote Hersh in 1983. Desai denied the charges and sued Harsh in US courts and lost. Morarji Desai went to his grave as a traitor -- perhaps India's most infamous one -- totally discredited on the basis of Hersh's secret informants.

External links

★ Stamp on Morarji Desai

★ The Return of the Rosebud TIME - Jan 28, 1966