Chandra Shekhar (17 April 1927 – 8 July 2007), also known as Jananayak, was an Indian politician and the prime minister of India, between 10 November 1990 and 21 June 1991.

He headed a minority government of a breakaway faction of the Janata Dal with outside support from the Indian National Congress.

[5][6] His government could not pass the budget[7] at a crucial time when Moody's had downgraded India, after Shekhar's government was unable to pass the budget, global credit-rating agencies further downgraded India from investment grade, making it impossible to even get short-term loans, and in no position to give any commitment to reform, the World Bank and IMF stopped their assistance.

Shekhar had to authorise mortgaging of gold to avoid default of payment, and this action came in for particular criticism, as it was done secretly in the midst of the election.

[citation needed] Granting the permission for US military planes to refuel in Indian airports during the Gulf War improved the Prime Minister's image with the West.

[11][12] Chandra Shekhar was born on 17 April 1927 in a Rajput zamindar family at Ibrahimpatti, a village in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh.

He came under the spell of Acharya Narendra Dev, a fiery Socialist leader at the beginning of his political career.

The other 'young Turks', who formed the 'ginger group' in the Congress in the fight for egalitarian policies, included[22] leaders like Feroze Gandhi, Satyendra Narayan Sinha, Mohan Dharia and Ram Dhan.

[23] Chandra Shekhar went on a nationwide padayatra in 1983 from Kanyakumari to New Delhi,[24] to know the country better, which he claimed gave jitters to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

[29] He finished his march at Rajghat in New Delhi on 25 June, the eighth anniversary of the declaration of the Emergency and also the day India won the Cricket World Cup.

[31][32] "Bharat Yatra Kendra" "Bhondsi ashram" was set up by the Chandra Shekhar in 1983 on 600 acre of panchayat land,[33] where godman Chandraswami and godman's associate Adnan Khashoggi (a Saudi Arabian billionaire international arms dealer embroiled in various scandals) use to visit him.

[40][41] George Fernandes, Biju Patnaik, Madhu Dandavate and Ramakrishna Hegde opposed this merger with Lok Dal (A) but Subramanian Swamy, Yashwant Sinha and Suryadeo Singh supported this move.

[43] He won a confidence motion with the support of his 64 MPs and Rajiv Gandhi, the leader of the Opposition, and was sworn in as Prime Minister.

He was himself the Prime Minister at that time and was preceded by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and succeeded by Shankarrao Chavan of Indian National Congress.

[54] Jairam Ramesh in his book To the Brink and Back: India's 1991 Story has written that "Chandrashekhar's Cabinet Committee on Trade and Investment (CCTI) itself had on 11 March 1991 approved the new export strategy which contained the main elements of the 4 July package".

[55] After handing the premiership to P. V. Narasimha Rao, Chandra Shekar's political importance was reduced, although he was able to retain his seat in the Lok Sabha for many years afterward.

[56] Politicians from across the spectrum of Indian parties paid tribute to him[57] and the government of India declared seven days of state mourning.

[56] He was cremated with full state honours on a traditional funeral pyre at Jannayak Sthal,[58] on the banks of the river Yamuna, on 10 July.