In 1964, India faced uncertainty as Jawaharlal Nehru’s health faltered, sparking a fierce succession battle. Lal Bahadur Shastri, a humble yet astute leader, faced a formidable challenge from Morarji Desai and other Congress factions. Helped by the Congress syndicate’s intricate politics, with Kamaraj’s strategic backing, Shastri’s calculated silence and widespread support outshone rivals. This is how the drama unfolded over a period of seven days, leading to Shastri’s election as India’s second Prime Minister.

Perspective: On January 8, 1964, on the opening day of the Congress session at Bhubaneswar, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru suffered a serious stroke affecting his left side.

Nehru was showing signs of decline since 1962; his health and spirit had wilted after the 1962 war. But after the stroke in January, India held its breath, and the pace quickened in the struggle for the succession. “After Nehru, who?” The question began to reverberate through the portals of power in India. The New York Times echoed global fears: “After Nehru—what?”

The question of Nehru’s successor was complicated. In 1963, the Kamaraj Plan piloted by Kumarawami Kamaraj, the austere, bachelor chief minister of Tamil Nadu, had purged the Congress of its stalwarts. In accordance with the plan, Nehru’s number two in the Cabinet, the ambitious right-wing leader Morarji Desai, five other cabinet colleagues and six chief ministers, resigned from their government posts. They were tasked with strengthening the party organisation. Nehru himself offered to resign but Kamaraj threatened to withdraw the plan if the prime minister didn’t agree to continue in office. Among the Cabinet ministers who resigned was Lal Bahadur Shastri, the diminutive leader from Uttar Pradesh, widely seen as Nehru’s favourite.

Nehru’s poor health precipitated a crisis of governance. To handle the day-to-day affairs, Shastri was brought back into the Cabinet as a minister without portfolio. Political pundits and the Indian media saw this as a clear sign that Shastri was next in line.

But there was a problem: Desai saw himself as the legitimate heir. And his ambition was burning with ferocity, waiting for the right opportunity.

May 27, 1964: The Drama Begins

At 2:00 PM, the news broke: Nehru had succumbed to his illness. As millions gathered in New Delhi for the funeral, India’s future hung in the balance.

At 4 PM, President S Radhakrishnan swore in Gulzarilal Nanda, the Home Minister, as the interim Prime Minister. But with a condition: the Congress will have to come back with a leader elected by the party.

At least three serious claimants to the PM’s post emerged immediately – Desai, Dalit leader Jagjivan Ram, and Nanda. Some speculated that the mantle would be passed on to Nehru’s daughter, Indira Gandhi. But she remained silent through the succession battle.

Despite the public claims of other leaders, Shastri maintained a low profile. Many pundits noticed that Shastri was almost withdrawn and aloof when the question of Nehru’s successor was being debated. But Shastri’s silence was a calculated ploy: he knew that expressing a desire for power was the fastest way of incurring the wrath of the public, and the animus of rivals. He also knew that behind the scenes the Kingmaker was silently at work, clearing the path for a succession without struggle.

The Kingmaker Steps In

After resigning from the Tamil Nadu chief ministership in 1963, Kamaraj became president of the Congress. With West Bengal’s Amulya Ghosh, Maharashtra’s SK Chavan, and southern stalwarts S Nijalingappa and N Sanjeeva Reddy, he formed what came to be known as the Congress syndicate. This coterie wielded maximum power in the Congress, and its members were determined to avoid an open power struggle.

To choose Nehru’s successor, Kamaraj suggested the pursuit of consensus. For this, he suggested a meeting of the Congress Working Committee, followed by consultations with chief ministers of Congress-led states, and a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party, comprising members of both houses. This was a plan to stymie Desai, who believed that the leader would be elected through a secret ballot by Congress Parliamentarians.

Desai’s bid for power, meanwhile, was harmed by a major development. Jagjivan Ram, who was supposed to be in his camp, suddenly threw his hat into the ring, taking away a large group of potential supporters who could have backed Desai in a contested election. By the time the party’s key decision-making body met to discuss Nehru’s successor, Desai was not confident about his majority in the 573-member Parliamentary party.

May 31, 1964: Morarji Trumped

On a humid morning, 42 members of the Congress met in Delhi to decide Nehru’s successor. After a long and lengthy discussion, where everyone except Indira Gandhi spoke, the party decided to elect the new leader through consensus, avoiding a secret ballot. The task of finding the unanimous leader was left to Kamaraj, through consultation with all the stakeholders. No names were mentioned in the meeting, but the decision was seen as a nod to Shastri, with most newspaper headlines predicting “Shastri All But Prime Minister.”

When asked about their prospects after the meeting, only Nanda seemed still sanguine about his chances: “The meeting gave a general direction, not the final outcome,” he said. Nanda, who had publicly declared himself out of the race, was secretly hoping the status-quo to continue, and run the government as long as possible as its interim leader. But President Radhakrishnan had given the Congress clear instructions to elect a leader within a week.

Over the next two days, in accordance with the power vested in him, Kamaraj met hundreds of Congress leaders—chief ministers, ordinary workers, Members of Parliament, and Legislative Assemblies.

The next day, Kamaraj conveyed his findings to the top leaders of the party.

June 2, 1964: The New PM

The central hall of Parliament was buzzing with excitement. By 9 AM, every seat was full, and the press was waiting outside. Kamaraj began the proceedings as the head of the party and started with a tribute to Nehru. He then spoke about his parleys with stakeholders and how Congress had led by example with a unanimous choice.

He then passed on the mic to the caretaker PM, Nanda, who proposed the name of Shastri as the leader, elected unanimously, seconded by Desai, ending the seven-day suspense over Nehru’s successor.

So, how did Shastri emerge as the winner?

According to Succession in India, Michael Brecher’s riveting 1966 book on Nehru’s successors, the Congress bowed to the will of the people, conveyed through Kamaraj.

Brecher notes that Nehru preferred Shastri among all his colleagues. This choice was backed by an opinion poll that put Shastri way ahead of others, especially in the Hindi belt.

Behind the scenes, Kamaraj orchestrated a delicate balance. Brecher notes, “Desai, a senior conservative with a reputation for obstinacy, rallied his supporters, believing his experience gave him a strong claim. However, his rigidity alienated many. Shastri, reinstated in January, emerged as a compromise candidate, his “remarkable lack of personal enmity” and loyalty to Nehru making him a unifying figure.

Epilogue: On June 9, 1964, Shastri was sworn-in as India’s second Prime Minister. But the shadows remained as India braced for challenges ahead: war, famine, the weight of Nehru’s legacy, and a tragedy that was to strike Shastri.

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