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Gulzarilal Nanda (acting PM twice, missed Aug 15) and Chandrashekhar (7-month tenure) are the only Indian PMs who couldn’t hoist the tricolor at Red Fort on Independence Day due to their brief terms.
Former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar and Gulzarilal Nanda
New Delhi: India's Independence Day (15 August) has a special place in the heart of every Indian. This is the day when our country became free from the slavery of British rule in 1947. The most important tradition of this historic day is the Prime Minister hoisting the tricolor and addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort in Delhi.
This tradition was started by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and has been carried out every year since then. But do you know that there have been two prime ministers of India who never got the opportunity to hoist the tricolor at the Red Fort? These are Gulzarilal Nanda and Chandrashekhar. Let's learn about them in detail:
1. Gulzarilal Nanda
Became Acting Prime Minister twice, but could not hoist the tricolor. Gulzarilal Nanda was a leader who got the opportunity to become the Acting Prime Minister of India twice: First time in 1964: When Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru died. At that time Nanda-ji held the post of prime minister for just 13 days.
Second time in 1966: When Lal Bahadur Shastri died. This time also he held the charge for about 13 days only. On both occasions his tenure was so short that 15th August did not come during his tenure. Therefore, he could not get the privilege of hoisting the tricolor at the Red Fort.
2. Chandrashekhar
He missed the opportunity to hoist the national flag at Red Fort due to unstable government. Chandrashekhar became the 8th Prime Minister of India. He held the reins of the country from 10 November 1990 to 21 June 1991 (about 7 months).
At that time the political situation of the country was very unstable. His government was running on external support of Congress, which could not last for long. Chandrashekhar had to resign after 6 months. Since his tenure lasted only till June 1991 and 15 August did not come in his tenure that year, he too could not hoist the tricolor from the Red Fort.
Why is hoisting the flag at the Red Fort so important?
Historical importance: On 15 August 1947, Pandit Nehru hoisted the tricolor for the first time at the Red Fort and declared India's independence.
Symbol of national unity: This ceremony reflects the unity and integrity of the country.
Address of the Prime Minister: On this occasion, the PM addresses the countrymen and tells about the plans for the coming year.
Prime Ministers like Gulzarilal Nanda and Chandrashekhar could not get this proud opportunity due to their short tenure. But even today the tradition of hoisting the tricolor on the Red Fort is the pride of Indian democracy, and every Indian is proud of it.
