Born : 29 February 1896
Died : 10 April 1995 (aged 99)
Birthplace : Bhadeli(Gujrat)
Morarji Desai (29 Feb 1896 – 10 April 1995), was a notable Indian independence activist and the fourth Prime Minister of India from 1977 - 1979.
He was also the first Prime Minister to head India's first non-Congress Government.
After India's first nuclear explosion in 1974, Smiling Buddha, Desai helped restore friendly relations with China and Pakistan, and vowed to avoid armed conflict such as Indo-Pakistani war of 1971.
Desai has the credible distinction of being the only Indian national to be conferred with Pakistan's highest civilian award, Nishan-e-Pakistan, which was conferred on him by President Ghulam Ishaq Khan in 1990 in a colorful ceremony.
In early 1966, the unexpected passing away of Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri after only 18 months in power, made Morarji Desai a contender for the position of prime minister. However, he was defeated by Nehru's daughter, Indira Gandhi in the Congress party leadership election by a narrow margin. Desai served as Deputy Prime Minister and Finance minister of India in the Indira Gandhi government until 1969 when Prime Minister Mrs Gandhi without consulting him took away the finance portfolio from him. at the same time, she also nationalised the fourteen biggest banks in India.
The popular anti-corruption movement led by Jayaprakash Narayan and the anti-Emergency wave in 1977 led to the complete routing of the Congress party in Northern India and a landslide victory for the opposition Janata alliance in the National elections held in March 1977. Morarji Desai was selected by the Janata alliance, later Janata Party as their parliamentary leader, and thus became the first non-Congress Prime Minister of India.
The Janata government had lesser success in achieving economic reforms. It launched the Sixth Five-Year Plan, aiming to boost agricultural production and rural industries. Seeking to promote economic self-reliance and indigenous industries, the government required multi-national corporations to go into partnership with Indian corporations. The policy proved controversial, diminishing foreign investment and led to the high-profile exit of corporations such as Coca-Cola and IBM from India. But the government was unable to address the issues of resurging inflation, fuel shortages, unemployment and poverty. The legalisation of strikes and re-empowerment of trade unions affected business efficiency and economic production.
In 1978, Prime Minister Morarji Desai, a longtime practitioner of "urine therapy", spoke to Dan Rather on 60 Minutes about the benefits of drinking urine. Desai stated that drinking urine was the perfect medical solution for the millions of Indians who cannot afford medical treatment
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