Jawaharlal Nehru (-hidʒəʋaːɦərˈlaːl ˈneːɦruIPAHi-JawaharlalNehru, often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who was the first and longest-serving Prime Minister of India (1947 � 1964). One of the leading figures in the Indian Independence Movement during the 1930s and '40s, Nehru was elected by the Indian National Congress to assume office as independent India's first Prime Minister, and re-elected when the Congress Party won India's first general election in 1952. Nehru contributed to the establishment of a secular Parliamentary democracy in India and was one of the founders of the international Non-Aligned Movement.
The son of moderate nationalist leader and Congressman Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru became a leader of the left wing of the Congress when fairly young. Rising to become Congress President under the mentorship of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Nehru was a charismatic and radical leader, advocating complete independence for India from the British Empire. In the long struggle for Indian independence, Nehru was eventually recognized as Gandhi's political heir. Throughout his life, Nehru advocated Fabian Socialism and a strong Public sector as the means by which economic development could be pursued by poorer nations. He was father to Indira Gandhi who was the third Prime Minister of the Republic of India.
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