Who was the first non-Congress Prime Minister of India?
- A.Charan Singh
- B.Morarji Desai
- C.V. P. Singh
- D.Chandra Shekhar
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Morarji Desai, who took office in March 1977 at the head of the Janata Party after the Congress lost a general election at the Centre for the first time. His government passed the 44th Amendment of 1978, which undid much of the 42nd Amendment, and appointed the Mandal Commission in 1979. Option A is wrong because Charan Singh succeeded Desai in 1979 and so was not the first; he also never faced the Lok Sabha as Prime Minister. Option C is wrong because V. P. Singh became Prime Minister in 1989 at the head of the National Front and is remembered for implementing the Mandal Commission report. Option D is wrong because Chandra Shekhar held the office briefly after V. P. Singh in 1990, more than a decade after the first non-Congress government was formed.
Read the full article: India after Nehru, 1964 to 1991: Complete Notes
Practice Questions
View allWho succeeded Jawaharlal Nehru as the Prime Minister of India in 1964?
- A.Gulzarilal Nanda
- B.Lal Bahadur Shastri
- C.Morarji Desai
- D.Indira Gandhi
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The slogan Jai Jawan Jai Kisan, the start of the Green Revolution and the war of 1965 belong to his short term.
Read the full explanation →The Tashkent Agreement of January 1966, which ended the Indo-Pak war of 1965, was mediated by the Premier of which country?
- A.The United States of America
- B.The Soviet Union
- C.The United Kingdom
- D.Egypt
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The agreement was signed at Tashkent, then in Soviet Uzbekistan, on 10 January 1966 by Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and President Ayub Khan of Pakistan, with the Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin acting as host and mediator.
Read the full explanation →How many major commercial banks were nationalised in India in 1969?
- A.Six
- B.Fourteen
- C.Twenty
- D.Twenty-one
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In July 1969 the government of Indira Gandhi nationalised the fourteen largest commercial banks, each with deposits above fifty crore rupees, in order to take banking to the villages and to direct credit towards agriculture, small industry and the weaker sections, which were together termed the priority sectors.
Read the full explanation →The Shimla Agreement of 2 July 1972 was signed between Indira Gandhi and which leader of Pakistan?
- A.Ayub Khan
- B.Yahya Khan
- C.Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
- D.Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq
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After the war of December 1971 and the creation of Bangladesh, the two countries met at Shimla and agreed on 2 July 1972 to settle their differences bilaterally and by peaceful means, to respect the line of control in Jammu and Kashmir resulting from the ceasefire, and to work towards…
Read the full explanation →What was the code name of India's first nuclear test, conducted at Pokhran on 18 May 1974?
- A.Operation Shakti
- B.Smiling Buddha
- C.Operation Vijay
- D.Project Agni
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India carried out its first underground nuclear explosion at Pokhran in the Thar desert of Rajasthan on 18 May 1974, which happened to be Buddha Purnima, and the government described it as a peaceful nuclear explosion.
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