Jawaharlal Nehru

Jawaharlal Nehru

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (, 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964), often referred to as Panditji, was an Indian politician and statesman, a leader in the Indian Independence Movement, and the first Prime Minister of independent India. Nehru was elected by the Indian National Congress to assume office as independent India's first Prime Minister in 1947, and re-elected when the Congress party won India's first general election in 1951. He was one of the founders of the international Non-Aligned Movement.

The son of moderate nationalist leader and Congressman Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru became a leader of the left wing of the Congress. He became Congress President under the mentorship of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Nehru advocated Democratic Socialism/Fabian Socialism and a strong public sector as the means by which economic development could be pursued by poorer nations. He was the father of Indira Gandhi and the maternal grandfather of Rajiv Gandhi, who were to later serve as the third and sixth Prime Ministers of India, respectively.