Late Prime Minister Morarji Desai used to celebrate his birthday in every 4 year

Digital News Guru Delhi Desk: A tall man dressed in a white kurta and Gandhi topi dancing spiritedly to the beats of folk Gujarati music, crashing wooden sticks against each other while playing dandiya.

This viral video claims to be a rare piece of history, a video of the otherwise, stern, upright and rigid Morarji bhai giving us a glimpse into his personal life.This year we celebrate Morarji Desai’s 124th Birth Anniversary. Instead of the standard tribute of what he’s accomplished through his life, I thought it would be more fitting to highlight a few lesser known facts about him, to shed light on Morarji bhai the person as opposed to Morarji bhai the leader.

Morarji Ranchhodji Desai, the fourth Prime Minister of India, led India’s first non-Congress government from 1977 to 1979. He also served as the Deputy Prime Minister of India from 1967 to 1971. Born the son of a school teacher in Bhadehi village, now in Bulsar district of Gujarat, Desai was imprisoned thrice during the Indian freedom struggle. He died on April 10, 1995, at the age of 99 at a hospital in Mumbai.

Who is Morarji Desai? Shri Morarji Desai was born on February 29, 1896 in Bhadeli village, now in the Bulsar district of Gujarat. His father was a school teacher and a strict disciplinarian. From his childhood, young Morarji learnt from his father the value of hard work and truthfulness under all circumstances. He was educated St. Busar High School and passed his matriculation examination. After graduating from the Wilson Civil Service of the then Bombay Province in 1918, he served as a Deputy Collector for twelve years.

Family

Morarji Desai is survived by his son Kanti Desai, two grandsons Bharat and Jagdeep Desai and four great grand children. The only one of them to hold any political ambition is Madhukeshwar Desai, one of his great grand children, son of Jagdeep Desai, who has taken it upon himself to revive the legacy of his illustrious great grandfather.

Political career of Morarji Desai

• 1931 Became a member of All India Congress Committee.
• 1937 Became the Minister of Revenue, Agriculture, Forest and Co-operatives.
• 1946 Became Minister of Home Affairs and Revenue of Bombay State
• 1952 Became Chief Minister of Bombay State
• 1956 Joined the Union Cabinet as Minister for Commerce and Industry
• 1963 Resigned from the Union Cabinet
• 1967 Served as Deputy Prime Minister & Finance Minister under Indira Gandhi Govt.
• 1969 Joined the Indian National Congress (INC)
• 1975-1977 Was imprisoned during the Emergency
• 1977 Became the Prime Minister of India

Morarji Desai’s Tenure as the Finance Minister

With a record of presenting eight annual and two interim budgets, Morarji Desai has the distinction of being the Finance Minister to have presented the most number of budgets till date.

Retirement and Death

In 1979, Raj Narain and Charan Singh pulled out of the Janata Party, forcing Desai to resign from office and retire from politics at the age of 83. Desai campaigned for Janata Party in 1980 General Election as a senior politician but did not contest the election himself.

In retirement, he lived in Mumbai, and died at the age of 100. He had been honoured much in his last years as a freedom-fighter of his generation.

Died 10 April 1995(1995-04-10) (aged 99) New Delhi, India. At the time of his death in 1995, he was the longest lived former Prime Minister of India, with 16 years post premiership.

This record was broken by Vishwanath Pratap Singh, who had a gap of 18 years between the end of his tenure as PM in 1990 and death in 2008. Singh too has been overtaken by HD Deve Gowda who as of 2021 has completed 24 years since his government was dissolved in 1997. Desai continues to hold the record for being the longest lived Prime Minister overall, with his death in 1995 coming at the age of 99.

Morarji Desai was a strict follower of Mahatma Gandhi’s principles and a moralist. He was a vegetarian “both by birth and by conviction”

You May Also Read: Virat kohli spotted with his daughter Vamika in London’s cafe , Photo goes viral !