Uttar Pradesh is India’s most politically important state and has played a key role in the country’s political landscape
Uttar Pradesh went to Phase 1 of voting in the seven-phase assembly election on Thursday. PTI
The Phase 1 of the assembly election in Uttar Pradesh began with constituents from 58 Assembly seats in 11 districts stepping out to vote on Thursday.
It is a common saying that Uttar Pradesh decides the next prime minister for the country. The saying isn’t very far from the truth as Uttar Pradesh has given a total of nine prime ministers, the most from any state, and one President.
Uttar Pradesh has been lucky even to those political leaders who were not residents of the state but were elected from there and went on to hold the prime minister’s office.
Let’s take a look back at the state’s history of producing prime ministers, who are they and what is their legacy:
Jawaharlal Nehru
India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, was born in Allahabad on 14 November, 1889. Nehru served as the interim prime minister from 2 September 1946 – 26 January 1950.
India’s first general elections were held from 25 October 1951 till 21 February 1952. The Indian National Congress (INC) won a landslide victory, winning 364 of the 489 seats and 45 per cent of the total votes polled.
Nehru won from Uttar Pradesh’s Phulpur constituency with 2,33,571 votes.
He went on to win from the same constituency in 1957 and 1962.
Lal Bahadur Shastri
Lal Bahadur Shastri was born on 2 October 1904 in Mughalsarai, present day Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Nagar, in Uttar Pradesh.
Shastri was elected to Lok Sabha from Allahabad constituency in 1962 general elections. He became the prime minister upon Nehru’s death.
Unfortunately, Shastri died 19 months into his prime ministerial role.
Charan Singh
The fifth prime minister, born in Noorpur in Uttar Pradesh, contested the 1977 Lok Sabha elections from Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh, however, he was not a candidate for the position of the prime minister.
It was only when Morarji Desai tendered his resignation to the President in 1979 that Charan Singh, deputy prime minister in Desai’s cabinet, proved majority in Lok Sabha with Congress’ outside support.
However, his time in the office was very limited. Singh had to resign when Congress pulled its support after five months.
Before holding the prime minister’s office, Charan Singh was also the 5th chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for a short period of 328 days.
Indira Gandhi
Born in Uttar Pradesh’s Allahabad, Indira Gandhi first became the prime minister upon the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri.
In 1967 and 1971 general elections, Gandhi was elected from Rae Bareli seat in Uttar Pradesh. She lost the 1977 elections from Rae Bareli. However, she came to power by winning the 1980 election from Medak in Andhra Pradesh.
Rajiv Gandhi
After his mother’s assassination, Rajiv Gandhi contested the 1984 general election from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. After 1984, it wasn’t until 2014 that a single party won the elections with a majority of seats.
At 40, Rajiv Gandhi was the youngest Prime Minister of India. He came back to power in 1989 from Amethi.
Vishwanath Pratap Singh
Another Uttar Pradesh chief minister who also became the prime minister in his political career. VP Singh fought the 1989 general elections from Fatehpur constituency in Uttar Pradesh and defeated Congress’ Hari Krishna Shastri.
He was the UP chief minister from 1980 to 1982.
Singh’s tenure as the PM ended when Bharatiya Janata Party withdrew its support in 1990.
Chandra Shekhar
Born in Ballia district in Uttar Pradesh, Chandra Shekhar also marked his presence in a highly volatile political period of India as he assumed the office of the Prime Minister for only seven months.
He was an elected MP from Ballia in the 1989 general elections. After the fall of VP Singh’s government, Chandra Shekhar seized the opportunity by proving majority on the floor of the House with the support of Congress.
His government fell when Congress withdrew its support in 1991.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, one of the pioneers of the early days Bharatiya Janata Party, was the prime minister first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for 13 months from 1998 to 1999, and finally for a full term from 1999 to 2004.
While Vajpayee contested the 1996 general elections from Gandhinagar, the BJP failed to prove a majority in Lok Sabha.
He was again elected the Prime Minister after winning the 1998 general elections from Lucknow seat in Uttar Pradesh. The Vajpayee government lasted for 13 months before Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK withdrew its support from the coalition.
In 1999, Vajpayee was again sworn the Prime Minister from Lucknow seat. This time he completed the five-year term.
Narendra Modi
Born in Gujarat’s Vadnagar, Narendra Modi went on to become the country’s 14th prime minister.
Modi contested and won the 2014 general election from Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi constituency against Aam Aadmi Party’s Arvind Kejriwal.
He retained the seat in the 2019 general election.
With inputs from agencies
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