1997 is the year. Congress had begun threatening to stop supporting the HD Deve Gowda administration. Subsequently, a crisis beset the United Front, an alliance of regional parties. The contest for the title of prime minister had broken out for the second time in a year. Following all of the discussions, Inder Kumar Gujral's name was decided upon.
Gujral did not know about this decision while he was at home. The alliance leaders arrived at his residence. discovered that Mr. was fast asleep.
A few influential people entered his chamber with the family's permission. The words "Get up; you have to become the Prime Minister of India" awakened Gujral from his slumber.
The tale of IK Gujral's ascent to the Prime Ministership and anecdotes surrounding him are told in the twelfth episode of the television show "Main Bharat Ka PM."
In 10 months, Deve Gowda and 13 days, Vajpayee, who will be the next prime minister?
The Center had a coalition government for a while in 1996. With 161 seats, the Bharatiya Janata Party became victorious in the Lok Sabha elections. The nation's prime minister at the time was Atal Bihari Vajpayee. In barely 13 days, Vajpayee's government collapsed.
HD Deve Gowda of the Janata Dal took over as prime minister on June 1, 1996. In the previous episode, their narrative was told. Congress supported Deve Gowda, but within ten months of Gowda taking office, Congress withdrew its backing, and the administration collapsed. Following this, a number of names for the prime minister were discussed.
Numerous people made claims. As an illustration, consider Sitaram Kesari, Lalu Prasad Yadav, GK Moopanar, and Mulayam Singh Yadav. However, no single name could be agreed upon.
Inder Kumar Gujral became prime minister by accident, according to Rashid Kidwai in his book Prime Minister of India.
Gujral, in fact, got along with everybody. He was friendly at every gathering. The majority of people said that any party would undoubtedly give this name some thought. Mulayam, however, objected to this name. He consented after Jyoti Basu gave him an explanation. However, Sitaram Kesari refrained from speaking at the time since he saw Gujral as a buddy as well.
In this manner, Gujral swore in as prime minister on April 21, 1997. He held this position until March 19, 1998.
Gujral thought that the only way to become dominant in the world was to mend fences with neighbors.
Indian foreign policy is guided by some key themes to which IK Gujral contributed. 'Gujral Doctrine' was the name of it. In 1996, India was prevented from signing the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) while serving as the country's foreign minister. This explains why India was able to successfully declare itself a nuclear power today.
One of Gujral's tenets is that a nation must establish cordial ties with its neighbors in order to assert its dominance on the global stage.
Senior Journalist Rashid Kidwai claims that "Gujral wanted India to develop trust with its neighboring countries like the Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan, first as Foreign Minister and then as Prime Minister." Talk it out with them to address any disagreements you may have. Don't anticipate anything right away if you have assisted a nearby country.
Saikat Dutta, a journalist, also recounts an incident with this philosophy. 'The new Prime Minister was Gujral. He summoned a few senior Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) officers to his office. directed them to cease their operations within Pakistan. Since then, it's thought that RAW hasn't had a clear directive to operate in Pakistan.
People frequently questioned Gujral's lenient attitude toward Pakistan. Gujral once participated in an interview with the newspaper "The Telegraph." Journalist KP Nair informed him that there is a belief in Indian diplomacy that a lenient approach is being taken with Pakistan. You cannot maintain a mild stance and still cooperate with Pakistan.
Gujral became enraged upon learning of this. "Do you think I will give something to Pakistan?" he replied angrily. I am a patriot to the fullest extent possible.
The Gujral cabinet was overthrown by Sitaram Kesri's ambition to become prime minister.
In his book "The Collision Years 1996–2012," former president Pranab Mukherjee stated that Sitaram Kesri had begun to harbor dreams of becoming prime minister at that time. He thought that perhaps, in this age of minority and unstable governments, he could realize his political dreams.
When the Jain Commission's interim report on Rajiv Gandhi's killing was released, Sitaram Kesari was looking for an excuse.
"It was mentioned in the interim report of the Jain Commission that DMK and its leaders were promoting LTTE chief Prabhakaran," writes Pranab Mukherjee. But there was no clear connection between the name of any DMK politician or party and Rajiv Gandhi's assassination. Congress was supporting Gujral's United Front administration from the outside at the time, and DMK was also a part of it.
Gujral planned a meal to talk with key executives in such a circumstance. According to Pranab Mukherjee, Gujral then stated that taking action against the DMK at this moment would send the wrong message. He did not want anything to tarnish the government's reputation.
Conversely, a Congress Working Committee meeting was called. The majority of the members were unwilling to stop supporting the Gujral government. "At that time, Sitaram Kesari was in a strong position in Congress," says Pranab. Kesari used his power to have the resolution requesting the withdrawal of assistance approved. Thus, on November 28, 1997, Inder Kumar Gujral's government fell.
'I got a call from the Prime Minister's House requesting me to come and meet the PM,' Gujral claimed in an interview with Veer Sanghvi. It was probably 10:30 or 11:00 when I arrived. The prime minister had already departed for her office by then.
Sanjay Gandhi arrived just as I was beginning to come out. The fact that Indira Gandhi's address had not been broadcast on an All India Radio channel made him quite angry that day.
"Look, this will not work," declared Sanjay angrily.
"Look, this is how it will continue as long as I am here," Gujral retorted.
Sanjay Gandhi became agitated. Gujral commented, "If you want to talk, then pick up some manners." You have no idea how to interact with seniors. There is no obligation on my part to you. Not your pastor; mine is your mother's.
It was only after this that Gujral's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting was taken over.
Gujral did not provide his watch; it was 1976, and Indira insisted repeatedly. IK Gujral was India's ambassador, or diplomat, in Moscow at the time. Arriving from a tour of the Soviet Union was Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. There was a program set up to greet him.
Indira was not alone there; Gujral was too. He carried an HMT watch at all times. Only the wealthy and well-connected wore HMT timepieces back then. The President of the Soviet Union, Brezhnev, was a big fan of Gujral's watch. While seated in the program, he asked him numerous questions about that watch through the translator.
Indira was paying attention to the translator. In Hindi, he commanded Gujral to remove his watch and deliver it to him.
This was not done by Gujral. Once more, Indira replied, "Why don't you give?" Please hand me the watch.
Through the interpreter and Indira, he informed Brezhnev, "I am currently bound by diplomatic etiquette." I can't open my watch and give it to you, even if I wanted to. I swear to you that I will send you one of these watches.
Later on, he sent Brezhnev a large number of these watches, as promised.
Years later, Gujral brought up this incident in an interview with journalist Veer Sanghvi. In his book "Mandate: Will of the People," Sanghvi told the whole story, citing Gujral.
Gujral was hugged by Saddam Hussein. In his memoirs, "Matters of Discretion," Gujral states, "I was the Foreign Minister back then." There was bad blood between Kuwait and Iraq. Saddam Hussein was dressed in khaki when I first saw him. He had a gun slung around his waist. He gave me a hug the moment he saw me.
There were photographers there. The picture from our meeting appeared in the national and international press. This made things worse for us. This conveyed to the world community that India's Foreign Minister was endorsing Saddam Hussein, despite his widespread condemnation.
In an interview with the Foreign Affairs Journal, KP Fabian, a former joint secretary and ambassador of the Gulf nation, defended Gujral by asserting that one cannot "duck" if the head of state of any nation wishes to embrace oneself. Thus, you are unable to decline it.
The outcome of this meeting was so positive that Gujral was able to safely return 170,000 Indians who were stuck in Kuwait via aircraft. This is regarded as the biggest operation of its sort in the world. The Guinness Book of World Records now has the record for the largest group of individuals transported at one time.
