Jawaharlal Nehru was a politician.
Jawaharlal Nehru . He is considered to be the architect of the modern Indian nation-state : a sovereign , socialist , secular , and democratic republic . As Congress President in 1929 , Nehru called for complete independence from the British Raj and instigated the Congress 's decisive shift towards the left . He remained popular with the people of India in spite of political troubles in his final years and failure of leadership during the 1962 Sino-Indian War .