Who doesn’t know the great legendary leader Lal Bahadur Shastri? He needs no introduction. However, despite working in the service of the nation, he did not receive much recognition in comparison to his other political counterparts. All that the nation knows about him is that he was the second Indian Prime Minister and the senior leader from the Indian National Congress political party. Even though he was a man of great caliber, he continued to live a life of simplicity and dedicated his life to the motherland. It, therefore, becomes important to know more about this great Indian leader and realize his greatness.
A separate section is being dedicated to the speeches of Lal Bahadur Shastri; there are both short speeches on Lal Bahadur Shastri as well as long speeches on Lal Bahadur Shastri that are comprehensively written to give a fair overview about him and his achievements.
Respected Vice Principal, Teachers and My Dear Students—Warm Greetings to Everyone!
As a Principal of this school I take immense pleasure to speak about a great follower and beloved student of Mahatma Gandhi.
You all might be thinking who is the person I am talking about? He is none other than Lal Bahadur Shastri who was an ardent admirer of Mahatma Gandhi but is less renowned for his works than Gandhi. I am thankful to you all for giving me an opportunity to speak about him on his birth anniversary being 2nd October which is also the birthdate of Mahatma Gandhi.
Shastri Ji served as the Prime Minister of India and was also the leader of the Indian National Congress Party. An active member of the Indian Independence Movement who was deeply influenced by Mahatma Gandhi. He was simple yet a staunch supporter of Indian independence movement. He was one of the honest and noble Prime Ministers of India. A true administrator who clearly revealed his leadership qualities. Leaders like him who leave no stone unturned are impossible to find in today’s world.
Social evils like the caste system and untouchability were deeply rooted in the Indian society and as a mark of reform various Reformers came in the fore front to fight these evils, but Lal Bahadur Shastri was the only person who dropped his surname to fight against the rigid caste system. The main objective of his life was peace and cooperation rather than conflict and war. This was the main reason why in most of the cabinet meetings it was negotiation rather than argument on a certain decision. He always acted as a mediator in every meeting and his decision was the ultimate decision on every argument for policy making in India.
You all might know the famous revolutionary reform in our home country. Yes, you all are thinking in the right direction, it is the famous Green Revolution that I am going to speak about. The agricultural sector of our country witnessed the greatest reform and that was respecting the countries own farmers. It was Lal Bahadur Shastri who invented the slogan “JAI JAWAN JAI KISAN”.Green Revolution was the first step to remodel Indian agriculture and increase its agricultural output. This reform movement was further implemented robustly during Indira Gandhi’s tenure as the Prime Minister of India.
Lal Bahadur Shastri died on 11 Jan 1966 in Uzbekistan just after signing the Tashkent Peace Agreement. After his death he was awarded the Bharat Ratna which is considered as the greatest honor given to an individual in our country. A Memorial was built at Vijay Ghat, New Delhi so that our future generations could respect and honor the great son of India. In contemporary times we need leaders like Shastri who could give their utmost love and dedication to their country. At the end I would like you to close your eyes and pray for the divine soul of Lal Bahadur Shastri. An honest person like him would never be born again.
Thank you!
Respected Principal, Vice Principal, Beloved Teachers and My Dear Friends- A Sincere Welcome to All!
I, Sharmit Wadhwa, the Prefect of class 12 thank you all for the wonderful opportunity to speak on a great leader and a honest man Lal Bahadur Shastri. He was the second Prime Minister of India after Jawaharlal Lal Nehru’s death. Though, very new to the high command office he took his responsibility in a spirited manner and in a way everyone was impressed by his personality.
I would love to share an experience with you all about the divide soul of Shastri. I was in class 7th when I was told about his personality for the first time. I still remember the day, it was 2nd October and our class teacher was supposed to tell us something about Mahatma Gandhi on his birth Anniversary. As our teacher entered the classroom we all were shocked when she said that today I am not going to tell you about Gandhi but another person who shares his birthday date with him. It was none other than Shastri about whom our teacher spoke that day. It was that moment I came to know about a humble man and a strong follower of Gandhi.
He was a man of his words as he always wanted our nation to be strong and advanced so that there would be no need to depend on others, according to him the British Raj only exploited our fellow citizens and took work from them without giving benefits and also suppressed them to any extent possible. This was the main reason for him to enter the Indian Independence Movement to protect his own brothers and sisters from any external outrage.
Shastri Ji deeply believed in Gandhi’s philosophy of village being the self-sufficient unit and development could only be achieved from the bottom which mainly means that the rural poor and farmers of our country need to be empowered as India was an agricultural economy at that point of time. The slogan “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan” was given by him so that our country’s farmers could be made strong enough and India could be on the path of self-reliance.
When India was going through an acute crisis it was only Shastri Ji who came to the rescue of her with his revolutionary ideas. It was then that Green Revolution was launched to increase agricultural output of our country and decrease Farmers dependence on organic seeds. They were provided loans by banks to improve their farming and buy best fertilizers and pesticides that could work best with our farming methods. It was not only the Green Revolution but Lal Bahadur Shastri was also the mind behind White Revolution.
The man behind various policies of India died in 1966 after signing the Tashkent agreement between India and Pakistan which was signed just after the Indo Pak war to maintain peace between the two countries.
At the end I would like to conclude that Shastri Ji showed immense courage and heroism while handling dire situations in India.
Thank You!
Good Morning one and All!
I, Ankit Patel, sincerely thank everyone present here for giving me a chance to speak before you all on Lal Bahadur Shastri. I hope through my speech I will be able to enlighten you all about the work and important policies that Shastri Ji undertook during his tenure as the Prime Minister of India.
Born on 2nd October 1904 he was the second Prime Minister of India after Jawaharlal Nehru’s sudden demise and was also the senior leader of National Congress Party. A loyal supporter of Mahatma Gandhi’s values and ideas, he was deeply influenced by his courage to launch the Indian Independence Movement which he joined at a later stage.
From the beginning of his childhood he took deep interest in ideas of freedom and liberty. While growing he adopted a passion for history and great works of charismatic personalities which included swami Vivekananda from whom he adopted peacefulness, Mahatma Gandhi and Annie Besant. Deeply influenced by Gandhi he even left his schooling to join the Indian Independence Movement as the movement carried the slogan of leaving government schools and joining Non Cooperation Movement. It was the next day when he actively joined the Indian National Congress Party and became a loyal and dynamic member of it.
Lal Bahadur Shastri completed his formal graduation degree from Kashi Vidyapeeth (founder Babu Shiv Prasad Gupt and Bhagwan Das) established in 1921. After receiving a formal degree, he became an active participant to get India independent. Imprisoned many times during the movement Shastri Ji never surrendered and this was his best quality which gave him an edge over others. While in imprisonment it was then that he came in contact with readings of various western revolutionaries and western philosophers.
He initially became the Home minister in his home state of Uttar Pradesh, where he played a vital role in successful curbing of the communal riots of 1947 and also rehabilitation of the refugees without much use of force, proving once again his leadership skills meticulously constructed over years. He later became The Prime Minister of India and declared that he would create India, which will never be devoid of freedom and prosperity. His aim of making our country secular and mixed economy with democratic aspects is still remembered as his greatest idea.
In linkage to his policies he appeared a calm individual who with consensus made various big decisions in India. Shastri Ji was the man behind the famous Green Revolution and While Revolution. To increase agricultural productivity and to stop farmer’s exploitation and launched the slogan “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan”. He handled the food shortages in India with extreme pride and boldness.
Shastri Ji was the man behind the concept of peace even in war ridden situations. During the Indo Pak war he wanted an agreement between the two countries so that mutual peace be declared and the war could be settled. This did happen and that’s the main reason why we regard Shastri Ji as the Greatest and a noble soul in the history of India.
Let’s just all pray for the divine soul and that his humanity be passed on to future leaders of our country.
Thank You for your precious time!
Respected Principal, Vice Principal, My Colleagues and Dear Students – Warm Greeting to Everyone!
Being the alumnus of this school and now a Journalist in recent times, I have received a great opportunity from your Principal to deliver a speech on Lal Bahadur Shastri who was the brain behind various important policies in the Indian history, but sadly is not much renowned for his efforts.
You all might be wondering that he was recently in the media channels due to controversies on his death, but I haven’t come here to clear those misunderstandings but just want an opportunity from you all to speak about a very noble and humble person, his achievements and simplicity, despite being a politician.
There are various stories about his simplicity but I will tell you about one which is very inspiring and motivating. Here is one which prove his modesty and integrity and the concern that he had for the nation and its people. I can recall one such incident which proves his honesty. Due to the demand of family members Shastri ji decided to buy a car when he was serving as the Prime Minister. Being short by Rs. 5000 on total cost of Rs. 12000, he applied for a loan in a bank. The loan was sanctioned and he paid for it from his pocket. Anyone, holding the highest post of power and displaying such modest and honest principles is unimaginable.
The simplicity matched with his peaceful capacity to resolve Indo Pak War through negotiations and Agreements. He made the country proud with his wit to handle a tough situation. He was an admirer of Jawaharlal Nehru who believed that India could only develop through fast paced industrialization which in turn could reduce poverty and unemployment. In his view proper planning was very important for a state rather than foreign trade.
After Nehru, Shastri Ji was quite impressed with the idea of planning which could lead India to the path of economic development; also his ability to tackle situations was amazing. He initiated a few steps to bring the Indian economy on the right track which included getting the country out of severe food shortages by initiating the path towards agricultural development rather than industrial development. He was a very far sighted person. His policies of Green Revolution and Farmers empowerment had set a foundation stone for the Indian economy to grow.
Shastri Ji was always ahead of his times in terms of economic and foreign policies. He set a foundation stone for peace and foreign policy relations with countries which would benefit India. His pragmatism and activism helped us in moving in the correct direction towards development and economic growth.
Shastri Ji, a noble soul died in 1966 next day after signing the Tashkent Agreement to establish a zone of peace and set peaceful tone between two countries which if not stopped would have fought a escalated war.
At the end I hope that I have enlightened you all about a divine soul without whom our country would not have tread on the path to development and growth.
Thank You!
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