Lal Bahadur Shastri Death Anniversary: Lesser Known Facts You Must Know About Former PM

Nation on Saturday paid tribute to former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on his 54th death anniversary. Shastri, who gave the slogan of ‘Jai Kisan, Jai Jawan,’ was the second prime minister of independent India. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu paid tribute to former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri. “I join the nation in paying my humble tributes to former Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri Ji on his death anniversary today. He served the country with distinction and was known for his simplicity, honesty & humility (sic),” Naidu tweeted.

Today, on his 53rd death anniversary, we bring to you some interesting facts about Lal Bahadur Shastri:

• Shastri was not the real surname of India’s second prime minister. He got the title of ‘Shastri’ after the completion of his graduation from Kashi Vidya Peeth in Varanasi in 1925.

• Lal Bahadur Shastri, who served as the Prime Minister during the Indo-Pak war in 1965, stopped drawing his salary after India faced food scarcity.

Lal Bahadur Shastri went to jail for taking part in Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation movement. (Image Credi: IANS)

• Shastri introduced the provision of female drivers and conductors in public transportation when he was the Transport Minister.

• He accepted a Khadi cloth and spinning wheel as dowry at his wedding.

• Shastri introduced the rule of spraying jet water to disperse the crowd instead of lathi charge, during his tenure as the Minister of Police.

• Shastri took part in the Salt March, for which he was jailed for a period of two years.