Lal Bahadur Shastri Age, Caste, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Real Name	Lal Bahadur Shastri
Nickname(s)	Man of Peace, Shastri, Nanhe
Profession(s)	Teacher, Activist, Politician
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 154 cm in meters- 1.54 m in feet inches- 5’ 1”
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Grey
Politics
Political Party	Indian National Congress
Political Journey	1928: Joined Indian National Congress on the call of Mahatma Gandhi. 1929: Became Secretary, Allahabad Distt Congress Committee. 1935-37: Elected as General Secretary, UP Provincial Congress Committee. 1937: Elected to UP Legislative Assembly and became the Organizing Secretary, UP Parliamentary Board. 1947: Became the Parliamentary Secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, and on 15 August, appointed the Minister of Police and Transport under Govind Ballabh Pant's Chief Ministership. 1951: Under the Prime- Ministership of Jawaharlal Nehru, appointed as the General Secretary of the All-India Congress Committee. 1952: Became an MLA from Soraon North cum Phulpur West seat, and on 13th May, became the First Railway Minister of the Republic Of India. 1957: Pt. Nehru again appointed Shastrji in his cabinet as Minister of Transport and Communication. 1958: Given the charge of Ministry of Commerce and Industry. 1961: Became Home Minister after the death of Pt. GB Pant. 1964: On 9 June, became the Second Prime Minister of India and served till 1966.
Famous Quotes	• “That loyalty to the country comes ahead of all other loyalties. And this is an absolute loyalty since one cannot weight it in terms of what one receives”. • “India will have to hang down her head in shame if even one person is left who is said in any way to be untouchable”. • “If Pakistan has any ideas of annexing any part of our territories by force, she should think afresh. I want to state categorically that force will be met with force and aggression against us will never be allowed to succeed."
Memorials (Major ones)	• Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (Mussorie, Uttarakhand). • The Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute was named after Shastri due to his role for developing scholarly activities between India and Canada. • On Shastri's 45th death anniversary, in 2011, the Uttar Pradesh Government declared to renovate Shastri's ancestral house at Ramnagar in Varanasi and announced plans to convert it into a biographical museum. • Varanasi International Airport. • In Tashkent, Uzbekistan, there is a Lal Bahadur Shastri Centre for Indian Culture with a Monument and a street is named after him. • The Almatti Dam is renamed as Lal Bahadur Shastri Sagar, situated in Northern Karnataka, constructed over the River Krishna. The foundation stone was laid by him. • Coins of ₹5 released by RBI during his birth centenary celebrations. • Since 1991, All India Lal Bahadur Shastri Hockey tournament is held every year as a major tournament. • Life-size statues of Shastri have been erected at Mumbai, Bangalore (Vidhana Soudha), New Delhi (CGO Complex), Almatti Dam Site, Ramnagar-UP, Hisar, Vizagapatinam, Nagarjuna Dam site, Warangal. • Life-size busts of Shastri have been erected at Thiruvananthapuram, Pune, Varanasi(Airport), Ahmedabad (lakeside), Kurukshetra, Shimla, Kasargod, Indore, Jalandhar, Mhow, Uran. • Lal Bahadur Shastri Medical College in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh. • Shastri Bhavan in New Delhi, Chennai, Lucknow.
Personal Life
Date of Birth	2 October 1904
Birthplace	Mughalsarai, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
Date of Death	11 January 1966
Place of Death	Tashkent (currently in Uzbekistan)
Age (at the time of death)	61 Years
Death Cause	Not confirmed According to one source: There was a Conspiracy behind his death According to other sources: Died of Cardiac Arrest (followed by two earlier heart attacks)
Resting Place	Vijay Ghat, New Delhi
Zodiac sign/Sun sign	Libra
Signature
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Kudh Kalan, Mughalsarai, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
School	Shri Harish Chandra Intermediate College
College/University	Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi
Educational Qualification	1st class honor (Arts)
Religion	Hinduism
Caste	kayastha
Address	10 Janpath, New Delhi
Award	Bharat Ratna (1966) by the President of India (posthumously)
Girls, Affairs and More
Marital Status (At the time of death)	Married
Marriage Date	16 May 1928
Family
Wife/Spouse	Lalita Devi (1928-1966)
Children	Son(s)- Hari Krishna Shastri, Anil Shastri (Politician: INC), Sunil Shastri (Politician: BJP), Ashok Shastri Daughter(s)- Kusum Shastri, Suman Shastri
Parents	Father- Sharada Prasad Shrivastava (a school teacher) Mother- Ramdulari Devi (home-maker)
Siblings	Brother- None Sister(s)- Kailashi Devi, Sundari Devi
Hobbies	Reading books

Some Lesser Known Facts About Lal Bahadur Shastri

• Did Lal Bahadur Shastri smoke?: Not Known

• Did Lal Bahadur Shastri drink alcohol?: Not Known

• He shares his birthday with Mahatma Gandhi; fondly called the father of the nation in India.

• He was two years old when his father passed away by Bubonic Plague. He was raised, along with his two sisters, by his mother at his maternal grandfather, Hazari Lal’s place.

• Since his childhood, he had inculcated the attributes of morals, honesty, simplicity, and sheer ethics.

• He was against the prevailing caste system, so, he decided to drop his surname “Shrivastava.”

• In 1925, after he completed his graduation from Kashi Vidyapeeth in Varanasi, he got the title “Shastri” meaning “Scholar person.”

• Young Shastri was inspired by the work and patriotism of Swami Vivekananda, Gandhiji, Annie Besant, etc.

•  J.B Kripalani, along with one of his friends V.N. Sharma, had formed an informal school centred around “nationalist education” to educate the young activists. Shastri was inspired from their institution and also joined them.

• He went to jail for the first time at the age of seventeen; for his active participation in Non-Corporation Moment.

• In 1928, he got married to Lalita Devi, the youngest daughter of Ganesh Prasad. Since he was against the Dowry-system, he refused to accept the Dowry that his father-in-law gave to him. On being consistently forced by his father-in-law, he accepted only five yards of khadi (a type of cotton, usually handspun) cloth as dowry.

• The couple was blessed with six children. 

• He also joined Servants of The People’s Society (founded by Lala Lajpat Rai), as a life member and worked for the betterment of the Harijans under Gandhi’s direction at Muzaffarpur. Later, he became the President of the Society.

• In 1928, he became an active member of Congress and he got behind the bars for two and a half years for being a supporter of Salt March in 1930.

•  In 1940, he was jailed for one year for offering individual Satyagraha support to the independence movement.

• On 8 August 1942, Gandhi issued speech on Quit India Movement; challenging the British Government to leave India, Shastri who had just come out of prison, gave instructions to Independence Activists from Nehruji’s home. He was again arrested and imprisoned till 1946.

• Shastri spent total 9 years of his life in jail. 

• Soon after India’s independence, Shastri was elected as Parliamentary Secretary in his home state, Uttar Pradesh.

• Being the Minister of Police and Transport (Uttar Pradesh), he was the first to allow women to become conductors. He was also the first one to introduce water cannons/jets, instead of Lathis, for crowd control.

• He was chosen as the General Secretary of All-India Congress Committee in 1951 when Jawaharlal Nehru was the Prime Minister. As General Secretary, he was handed all the responsibilities related to the elections.

•  He played a vital role in the consecutive successes of the Congress Party in the Indian General Elections of 1952, 1957 and 1962.

• On 13 May 1952, Shastri was elected as Minister of Railways in first Cabinet of Republic of India. 

• Shastri was made Prime Minister on 9 June 1964, after the demise of Jawaharlal Nehru on 27 May 1964. He was the second Prime Minister of India.

• He took the oath of office on 11 June 1964 and stated: “There comes a time in the life of every nation when it stands at the crossroads of history and must choose which way to go. But for us, there need be no difficulty or hesitation, no looking to right or left. Our way is straight and clear—the building up of a secular mixed-economy democracy at home with freedom and prosperity, and the maintenance of world peace and friendship with select nations.”

• In 1965, Indo-Pak war was at its peak, he led India to get success in the war. 

• He gave the slogan “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan” during the war; when the country was also facing food shortage problems.

• He was the first person to be awarded Bharat Ratna posthumously.

• His commendable leadership was admired and extolled all across the world. He lived his life with the sheer simplicity and truthfulness and was a great source of motivation and inspiration to all the Indians.

• Shastri died in Tashkent, reportedly due to a fatal heart attack, at 02:00 on the day after approving the Tashkent Declaration, but people allege some conspiracy behind the death. He was the first Prime Minister of India to die overseas. 

• He was symbolized as a National hero and a memorial “The Vijay Ghat” was established in his memory.