Venkataraman, a freedom fighter, actively participated in the Quit India Movement of 1942 for which he was arrested, and jailed.
After he was released, he became a member of the Constituent Assembly and drafted the Constitution of India. In 1950, Venkataraman was elected to the Provisional Parliament of India (1950-1952) and to the first Parliament (1952-1957).
He was appointed by the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi as a member of the Union Planning Commission in 1967 to supervise matters of industry, power, transport, communications and railways.
In 1980, he was elected to the Lok Sabha and was made Finance Minister in the Indira Gandhi government. Later, he was appointed Defence Minister in 1983.
Venkataraman gave the required boosting to India’s missile technology. He initiated India’s first missile programme. It was Venkataraman who transferred A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to the missile programme from the space programme. Kalam was later known as the ‘missile man of India’ for leading the ballistic missile technology.
Venkataraman was then, made the Vice President of India in 1984, and later, in July 1987, he was sworn in as the President of India, serving till 1992.
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