I. K. Gujral

Inder Kumar Gujral (4 December 1919 – 30 November 2012) was an Indian politician who served as the Prime Minister of India from April 1997 to March 1998. Gujral was the third PM to be from the Rajya Sabha, the first being Indira Gandhi and the second H. D. Deve Gowda.

Early and personal life

Inder Kumar Gujral was born on 4 December 1919 to Avtar Narain and Pushpa Gujral in Jhelum in present-day Pakistan. He studied at D.A.V. College, Hailey College of Commerce and Forman Christian College University, Lahore. He also participated in the Indian independence movement and was jailed in 1942 during the Quit India Movement. As a student he became a member of the Communist Party of India. He also has two sisters, Uma Nanda and Sunita Judge.

Gujral's hobbies included poetry and he spoke Urdu and was, after his death, eulogised as a lover of the language by Maulana Azad National Urdu University, an institution where he held the position of chancellor. His wife Sheila Gujral, who had been ill, died on 11 July 2011. She was an acclaimed poet. The couple had two sons, Naresh, who is a Shiromani Akali Dal MP in the Rajya Sabha, and Vishal. The couple also have two granddaughters and a grandson. Gujral's brother, Satish Gujral, is a painter. His niece, Medha, is married to popular Bhajan singer Anup Jalota.