In office 24 March 1977 (1977-03-24) – 28 July 1979 (1979-07-28)
President
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy[Note 1]
Vice President
B. D. Jatti
Deputy
Charan Singh (24 January 1979 to 16 July 1979)
Jagjivan Ram
(from 24 January 1979)
Preceded by
Indira Gandhi
Succeeded by
Charan Singh
Minister of Home Affairs
In office 1 July 1978 (1978-07-01) – 24 January 1979 (1979-01-24)
Preceded by
Charan Singh
Succeeded by
Hirubhai M. Patel
2nd Deputy Prime Minister of India
In office 13 March 1967 (1967-03-13) – 16 July 1969 (1969-07-16)
Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi
Preceded by
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Succeeded by
Charan Singh
Jagjivan Ram
Minister of Finance
In office 13 March 1967 (1967-03-13) – 16 July 1969 (1969-07-16)
Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi
Preceded by
Sachindra Chaudhuri
Succeeded by
Indira Gandhi
In office 13 March 1958 (1958-03-13) – 29 August 1963 (1963-08-29)
Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru
Preceded by
Jawaharlal Nehru
Succeeded by
T. T. Krishnamachari
2nd Chief Minister of Bombay State
In office 21 April 1952 (1952-04-21) – 31 October 1956 (1956-10-31)
Preceded by
B. G. Kher
Succeeded by
Yashwantrao Chavan
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 1957 (1957)–1980 (1980)
Constituency
Surat, Gujarat
Personal details
Born
Morarji Ranchhodji Desai
(1896-02-29)29 February 1896 Bhadeli, Bombay Presidency, British India (present-day Valsad, Gujarat, India)
Died
10 April 1995(1995-04-10) (aged 99) Bombay, Maharashtra, India (present-day Mumbai)
Political party
Janata Dal (1988–1995)
Other political affiliations
Indian National Congress (1934–1969)
Indian National Congress (Organisation) (1969–1977)
Janata Party (1977–1988)
Spouse
Gujraben Desai
(m. 1911; died 1981)
Children
5
Alma mater
University of Mumbai
Profession
Activist
politician
Awards
Bharat Ratna (1991) Nishan-e-Pakistan (1990)
Signature
Morarji Ranchhodji Desai[1] (29 February 1896 – 10 April 1995)[2] was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the 4th Prime Minister of India between 1977 and 1979 leading the government formed by the Janata Party. During his long career in politics, he held many important posts in government such as Chief Minister of Bombay State, Home Minister, Finance Minister and 2nd Deputy Prime Minister of India.
Following the death of Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, Desai was a strong contender for the position of Prime Minister, only to be defeated by Indira Gandhi in 1966. He was appointed as Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister in Indira Gandhi's cabinet, until 1969. When Indian National Congress split in 1969 he became a part of the INC (O). After the controversial emergency was lifted in 1977, the political parties of the opposition fought together against the Congress (I), under the umbrella of the Janata Party, and won the 1977 election. Desai was elected prime minister, and became the first non-Congress prime minister of India. Desai was the second and the last prime minister to have been born in the nineteenth century.
On the international scene, Desai holds international fame for his peace activism and created efforts to initiate peace between two rival South Asian states, Pakistan and India.[3] After India's first nuclear test in 1974, Desai helped restore friendly relations with China and Pakistan, and vowed to avoid armed conflict such as Indo-Pakistani war of 1971. He was honoured with the highest civilian award of Pakistan, the Nishan-e-Pakistan on 19 May 1990.
He is the oldest person to hold the office of prime minister, at the age of 81, in the history of Indian politics.[4] He subsequently retired from all political posts, but continued to campaign for the Janata Party in 1980. He was conferred with India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna. He died at the age of 99 in 1995.
Cite error: There are <ref group=Note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=Note}} template (see the help page).
^The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. "Desai, Morarji Ranchhodji". TheFreeDictionary.com. Columbia University Press. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
^Darpan, Pratiyogita (1 December 2006). "Pratiyogita Darpan". Pratiyogita Darpan – via Google Books.
^Choudhary, Ratnadeep (10 April 2019). "Morarji Desai, the prime minister for whom time in PMO was 'tougher than prison'". ThePrint. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
^Limca Book of Records 1991. Bombay: Bisleri Beverages Ltd. 1991. p. 40. ISBN 81-900115-1-0.
Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (29 February 1896 – 10 April 1995) was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the 4th Prime Minister of...
The premiership of MorarjiDesai extended from 24 March 1977 to 15 July 1979. In the 1977 Indian general election MorarjiDesai led the Janata Party to...
general election, the party defeated the Congress and Janata leader MorarjiDesai became the first non-Congress prime minister in independent modern India's...
Shastri's sudden death in January 1966, Gandhi defeated her rival, MorarjiDesai, in the Congress Party's parliamentary leadership election to become...
Madhukeshwar Desai (born 25 August 1987) is an Indian lawyer and politician, he is the great grand son of former Prime Minister of India MorarjiDesai. In 2013...
Surat Airport (IATA: STV, ICAO: VASU) is an international airport serving Surat, Southern Gujarat. It is located in Magdalla, situated 12 km (6.4 mi) from...
Desai ministry may refer to these Indian governments led by MorarjiDesai: MorarjiDesai ministry, the Indian government headed by MorarjiDesai as prime...
MorarjiDesai Residential Schools for Minorities are the schools in Karnataka state in India. These are run by Directorate of Minorities department of...
President of India. As president, Reddy worked with Prime Ministers MorarjiDesai, Charan Singh and Indira Gandhi. Reddy was succeeded by Giani Zail Singh...
post was vacant until MorarjiDesai became the second deputy prime minister in 1967 and has the second-longest tenure. MorarjiDesai and Charan Singh were...
new government is formed and its new leader and new Prime Minister MorarjiDesai believes in building relationships through diplomacy and peaceful means...
verdict was later overturned. The Janata coalition under prime minister MorarjiDesai was only united by its hatred of Indira Gandhi.The party included right...
Surat was also the constituency of the 7th Prime Minister of India MorarjiDesai, who has been an MP for this constituency for 5 terms. Surat has elected...
to become Prime Minister in 1977 by Jayaprakash Narayan's choice of MorarjiDesai. During 1977 Lok Sabha Elections, the fragmented opposition united a...
the leadership contest to succeed Nehru, the preference was between MorarjiDesai and Lal Bahadur Shashtri. Eventually, Shashtri was selected as the next...
MorarjiDesai Setu is a weir-cum-causeway on the Tapi River in Surat, Gujarat, India. It connects Rander and Katargam neighbourhoods. It was built in...
of the Janata alliance but were at loggerheads with Prime Minister MorarjiDesai. The tribunals the government had set up to investigate human rights...
election to the Janata Party, whose leader MorarjiDesai became the first non-Congress prime minister. After Desai resigned in 1979, his former associate...
The MorarjiDesai National Institute of Yoga (acronym MDNIY) is an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Ayush, Government of India. It is the...
two-hundred dock workers from Bombay to Poona to meet Chief Minister MorarjiDesai for the release of D’Mello. As a labour organiser, he served many prison...
aircraft landed at Juhu Aerodrome, where Chief Minister B. G. Kher and MorarjiDesai were present to receive him with a car belonging to the Governor of...
Kenya Krishna Desai – CPI politician MorarjiDesai – Prime Minister of India (1977–79) Mahadev Desai – Secretary to Mahatma Gandhi S. T. Desai – first Chief...
during Nehru's tenure and in Shastri and Indira Gandhi governments. MorarjiDesai was a nationalist with anti-corruption leanings but was socially conservative...
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