Pandit Jawahar lal Nehru (chacha nehru) 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was the first Prime Minister of Indiaand a central figure in Indian politics for much of the 20th century. He emerged as the paramount leader of the Indian independence movementunder the tutelage of Mahatma Gandhiand ruled India from its establishment as an independent nation in 1947 until his death in office in 1964. Nehru is considered to be the architect of the modern Indian nation-state: a sovereign, socialist, secular, and democratic republic. The son of Motilal Nehru, a prominent lawyer and nationalist statesman, Nehru was a graduate of Trinity College, Cambridgeand the Inner Temple, where he trained to be a barrister. Upon his return to India, he enrolled at the Allahabad High Court, and took an interest in national politics, which eventually replaced his legal practice. A committed nationalist since his teenage years, Nehru became a rising figure in Indian politics during the upheavals of the 1910s. He became the prominent leader of the left-wing factions of the Indian National Congressduring the 1920s, and eventually of the entire Congress, with the tacit approval of his mentor, Gandhi. As Congress Presidentin 1929, Nehru called for complete independencefrom the British Rajand instigated the Congresss decisive shift towards the left. Nehru and the Congress dominated Indian politics during the 1930s as the country moved towards independence. His idea of a secular nation-state was seemingly validated when the Congress, under his leadership, swept the 1937 provincial electionsand formed the government in several provinces; on the other hand, the separatist Muslim Leaguefared much poorer. But these achievements were seriously compromised in the aftermath of the Quit India Movementin 1942, which saw the British effectively crush the Congress as a political organisation. Nehru, who had reluctantly heeded Gandhis call for immediate independence, for he had desired to support the Alliedwar effort during the Second World War.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 17:01:22 +0000
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