V. P. Singh
Vishwanath Pratap Singh (25 June 1931 – 27 November 2008), shortened to V. P. Singh, was an Indian politician who was the 7th Prime Minister of India from 1989 to 1990[2] and the 41st Raja Bahadur of Manda.[3]
Not to be confused with politician V. P. Singh Badnore, Minister and former General V. K. Singh, or hydrologist Vijay P. Singh.
Vishwanath Pratap Singh
Chaudhary Devi Lal (until 1 August 1990)
Krishna Prakash Tiwari
position established
position established
41st Raja Bahadur of Manda
1971–2008
Sovereign Monarchy
1947 (Instrument of Accession)
Titular Monarchy
1971 (26th Amendment of the Indian Constitution)
himself
1941–1947
Ram Gopal Singh
1947–1971
25 June 1931
Allahabad, United Provinces, British India
(present-day Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India)
Gaharwal
Indian National Congress (1969 -1987)
Janata Dal (1988–1999)
Jan Morcha (1987–1988, 2006–2008)
2, includingAjeya Pratap Singh
He was educated at the Allahabad University and Fergusson College in Pune.[4] In 1969, he joined the Indian National Congress party and was elected as a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly.[5]
In the Rajiv Gandhi ministry, Singh was given various cabinet posts, including Minister of Finance and Minister of Defence. Singh was also the Leader of the Rajya Sabha from 1984 to 1987. During his tenure as Minister of Defence, the Bofors scandal came to light, and Singh resigned from the ministry. In 1988, he formed the Janata Dal party by merging various factions of the Janata Party. In the 1989 elections, the National Front, with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), formed the government and Singh became the 7th Prime Minister of India.
During his tenure as prime minister, he implemented the Mandal Commission report for India's backward castes, which led to major protests against the act. He also created the Sixty-second Amendment and enacted the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Act in 1989. During his term the kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed happened and on the ground the terrorists were released. In 1990 the infamous exodus of Kashmiri Hindus happened from the valley of Kashmir. Following his opposition to the Ram Rath Yatra, the BJP withdrew its support for the National Front, and his government lost the vote of no-confidence. Singh resigned on 7 November 1990. His prime ministerial tenure lasted for 343 days.
Singh was the prime ministerial candidate for the National Front in the 1991 elections, but was defeated. He spoke out against the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992. After 1996, Singh retired from political posts, but continued to remain a public figure and political critic. He was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 1998, and ceased public appearances until the cancer went into remission in 2003. However, he died from complications of multiple myeloma and kidney failure in 2008. He received full state honours.
Early life and education[edit]
Singh was born on 25 June 1931,[6] the third child of the Hindu Rajput Zamindar family[7][8] of Daiya, which is located on the banks of the Belan River in the Allahabad district. He was adopted by Raja Bahadur Ram Gopal Singh of Manda and became the heir-apparent. He became the Raja Bahadur of Manda at the age of 10 in 1941.[9] His ancestors were rulers of the predecessor state of Manikpur was founded in 1180, by Raja Manik Chand, brother of Raja Jai Chand of Kannauj.[A] His family belonged to the Gaharwal clan of the Manda Zamindar.[11]
He obtained his education from Colonel Brown Cambridge School, Dehradun, and got his Bachelor of Arts and Law degree from Allahabad University. He was elected the vice president of Allahabad University Students Union and later received a Bachelor of Science in physics from Fergusson College in the Pune University.[12]
Administerial skill[edit]
He was considered very close to Rajiv Gandhi as well as Indira Gandhi and was loyal to them at a time when the experienced leaders of Congress Party founded a new party, Indian National Congress (Organisation), and empowered the party of Indian National Congress (Requisition).[27][28][29] Singh was known as "Mr. Clean" because of his impeccable history and also because of his opposition for the corruption in Bofors deal, which lead the way for him to contest his own party to fight the 1989 Lok Sabha Election and become Prime Minister of India.[30][31] Singh was responsible for managing the coalition of the Left and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against Rajiv Gandhi to dethrone him in the 1989 elections. He is remembered for the important role that he played in 1989 that changed the course of Indian politics.[32] Singh acted boldly by issuing an arrest warrant against L. K. Advani midway through the latter's Rath Yatra.[33]
Formation of Janata Dal[edit]
Together with associates Arun Nehru and Arif Mohammad Khan, Singh floated an opposition party named Jan Morcha.[46] He was re-elected to Lok Sabha in a tightly contested by-election from Allahabad, defeating Sunil Shastri.[47][48] On 11 October 1988, the birthday of the original Janata coalition's leader Jayaprakash Narayan, Singh founded the Janata Dal by the merger of Jan Morcha, Janata Party, Lok Dal and Congress (S), in order to bring together all the centrist parties opposed to the Rajiv Gandhi government, and Singh was elected the President of the Janata Dal. An opposition coalition of the Janata Dal with regional parties including the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Telugu Desam Party, and Asom Gana Parishad, came into being, called the National Front, with V. P. Singh as convener, NT Rama Rao as president, and P Upendra as a General Secretary.[49]
The National Front fought 1989 General Elections after coming to an electoral understanding with Bharatiya Janata Party and the Left parties (the two main oppositions) that served to unify the anti-Congress vote. The National Front, with its allies, earned a simple majority in the Lok Sabha and decided to form a government. The Bharatiya Janta Party under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani and the Left parties such as the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India declined to serve in the government, preferring to support the government from outside.
In a meeting in the Central Hall of Parliament on 1 December, Singh proposed the name of Devi Lal as Prime Minister, in spite of the fact that he himself had been clearly projected by the anti-Congress forces as the 'clean' alternative to Rajiv Gandhi and their Prime Ministerial candidate. Chaudhary Devi Lal, a Jat leader from Haryana stood up and refused the nomination, and said that he would prefer to be an 'elder uncle' to the Government and that Singh should be Prime Minister.[50][51] This last part came as a clear surprise to Chandra Shekhar, the former head of the erstwhile Janata Party, and Singh's greatest rival within the Janata Dal. Shekhar, who had clearly expected that an agreement had been forged with Lal as the consensus candidate, withdrew from the meeting and refused to serve in the Cabinet.[52]
Singh was sworn in as India's Prime Minister on 2 December 1989.[53]
Cultural legacy[edit]
Statue[edit]
A statue of V.P. Singh is situated at Presidency College, Chennai. It was inaugurated by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin in the presence of V.P. Singh's wife and Akhilesh Yadav on 27 November 2023.[128]