Chandra Shekhar

Prime Minister of India

1 July 1927 Ibrahimpatti, Ballia, United Provinces, British India

8 July 2007(2007-07-08) (80) New Delhi, India

10 November 1990 (1990-11-10 )  – 21 June 1991 (1991-06-21 )

Eighth Prime Minister of India Not to be confused with Chandra Shekhar (Uttarakhand politician). Chandra Shekhar Singh (1 July 1927 – 8 July 2007) was an Indian politician who served as the 8th 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. He is the first Indian Prime Minister who has never held any Government office. His government was largely seen as a "puppet" and "lame duck" and the government was formed with the fewest party MPs in the Lok Sabha. His government could not pass the budget at a crucial time when Moody had downgraded India and it further went down after the budget was not passed and 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. Chandrasekhar 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. The Indian economic crisis, 1991, and the Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi plunged his government into crisis.