From the archive record
Chandra Shekhar, (born July 1, 1927, Ibrahimpatti, India—died July 8, 2007, New Delhi), politician and legislator, who served as prime minister of India from November 1990 to June 1991. Shekhar was a leading member of the Socialist Party before he joined the ruling Congress Party in 1964. He was a member of India’s upper legislative chamber, the Rajya Sabha, from 1962 to 1967, and he held a seat in the lower chamber, the Lok Sabha, in 1977–79, 1980–84, and from 1989 until he became prime minister. Shekhar split with the leader of the Congress Party, Indira Gandhi, in 1975 and spent time in prison during the national emergency she subsequently declared. In 1977 Shekhar became president of the Janata Party, which headed a coalition government under Prime Minister Morarji Desai from 1977 to 1