Biography of Choudhary Charan Singh: 5th Prime Minister

Biography of Choudhary Charan Singh – (Born: 23 December 1902 Meerut – died 29 May 1987) was the fifth Prime Minister of India. Choudhary Charan Singh was considered a strong leader who raised the voice of the farmers. Chaudhary Charan Singh tenure as Prime Minister was from 28 July 1979 to 14 January 1980. He became the Prime Minister of the country with the help of Samajwadi Party and Congress (O).

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Biography of Chaudhary Charan Singh

He was supported from outside by ‘Congress In’ and CPI, but he did not join his government. Apart from this, Chaudhary Charan Singh was the Home Minister of India (tenure- 24 March 1977 – 1 July 1978), Deputy Prime Minister (tenure – 24 March 1977 – 28 July 1979) and twice as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.

Early life(Choudhary Charan Singh)

Chaudhary Charan Singh was born on 23 December 1902 in a middle class farming family in Nurpur village of Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh. His family was of Jatt background. His ancestor Maharaja Nahar Singh had made a special contribution in the first revolution of 1887. Maharaja Nahar Singh was a resident of Vallabhgarh, which is in present-day Haryana.

Maharaja Nahar Singh was hanged by the British government at Chandni Chowk in Delhi. Then in order to keep the flame of revolution against the British intact, the supporters of Maharaja Nahar Singh and the grandfather of Chaudhary Charan Singh migrated to the former area of Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh.

Student life(Chaudhary Charan Singh)

Chaudhary Charan Singh was blessed with an educational environment in the family. He himself also had additional inclination towards education. Chaudhary Charan Singh’s father Chaudhary Mir Singh wanted his son to be educated and serve the country. Chaudhary Charan Singh’s primary education was completed in Nurpur village itself, while for matriculation he was sent to Government High School in Meerut.

In 1923, at the age of 21, Chaudhary Charan Singh obtained a bachelor’s degree in science. After two years, in 1925, Chaudhary Charan Singh passed the Master of Arts examination. Then after passing the law examination, Chaudhary Charan Singh started advocating in Ghaziabad.

Marriage Life(Choudhary Charan Singh)

In 1929, Chaudhary Charan Singh came to Meerut. After coming to Meerut, Chaudhary Charan Singh marriage was completed with Gayatri, the daughter of Jatt family. Gayatri Devi’s family lived in ‘Garhi village’ of Rohtak district. This was the time when the freedom struggle had gained momentum in the country. Chaudhary Charan Singh could not keep himself away from the call of the country.

He made up his mind to leave the advocacy and participate in the movement. Congress was a very big party at that time. Chaudhary Charan Singh also became a member of Congress. Chaudhary Charan Singh image in the Congress was established as a skilled worker. He got success in the 1937 assembly elections and was elected from Chhatrawali assembly constituency.

Political life(Choudhary Charan Singh)

Once he joined politics, Chaudhary Charan Singh was never disillusioned with it. In those days there was no dearth of well-educated people, who were joining the Congress for the service of the country. He efficiently represented the regional people for 9 years (i.e. 1946) from Chhatrawali assembly seat. After the independence of the country, he could not become a national level leader, but his influence was clearly felt in the state assembly.

After independence, Chaudhary Charan Singh was re-elected to the state assembly in the elections held in 1952, 1962 and 1967. The top leadership of the party was also impressed by his merit. As a result, he also got ‘Parliamentary Secretary ship’ in the government of Pandit Govind Vallabh Pant. In the role of Parliamentary Secretary, he discharged the responsibilities of departments like Revenue, Justice, Information, Medical and Health etc. with full devotion.

Chaudhary Charan Singh political future began to form in 1951, when he got the post of cabinet minister in Uttar Pradesh. He handled the Department of Justice and Information. In 1952, during the Chief Minister ship of Dr. Sampoornanand, he got the responsibility of Revenue and Agriculture Department. He was a grassroots leader and the agriculture department was particularly fond of him.

Chaudhary Charan Singh was also a farmer by nature. He continued to work tirelessly for the interests of the farmers. In 1960, he was given the Ministry of Home and Agriculture in the government of Chandrabhanu Gupta. He was very popular among the people of Uttar Pradesh. That is why he got a high position in the state government due to his qualifications and experience.

Social Worker(Choudhary Charan Singh)

The farmers of Uttar Pradesh started considering Chaudhary Charan Singh as their messiah. He did a lot of work for the welfare of the farmers. While traveling all over Uttar Pradesh, he tried to solve the problems of the farmers. Agriculture was the main occupation in the rural areas of Uttar Pradesh. Due to the respect of the farmers, he did not have to face defeat in any election.

By that time there was a great need for improvement in the irrigation system of Uttar Pradesh, due to which Chaudhary Charan Singh could not improve the level of agriculture very much. Yet his dedication was unquestionable. His sincere efforts have always been appreciated. He was more of a social worker than a politician for the people. He also had mastery in the art of oratory. This is the reason why huge crowd used to gather in his public meetings. People were eager to hear him.

Then in 1966, he got a ministerial post in Sucheta Kriplani’s government but got less important portfolios. Congress disbanded in 1969. Chaudhary Charan Singh joined with Congress (O). His loyalty was to the Congress Syndicate. Then he was elected Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh with the support of Congress (O), but did not hold the post of Chief Minister for long. Biography of Choudhary Charan Singh

limitation law(Choudhary Charan Singh)

The split of Congress also had an effect on the Congress of Uttar Pradesh state. The division of the central level was also implemented at the state level. The Congress leaders joined the Indira Congress and the Syndicate Congress according to their respective allegiance. Since Chaudhary Charan Singh was an easy opponent of Indira Gandhi, he became a favored Congress (O).

Even at the time when Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister of the country, Uttar Pradesh was a big and important state in terms of parliamentary seats. Then it was also the home state of Indira Gandhi. Because of this he did not accept that someone from Congress (O) should be the Chief Minister in Uttar Pradesh. Therefore, on October 2, 1970, Mrs. Indira Gandhi imposed President’s rule in Uttar Pradesh. The Chief Ministership of Chaudhary Charan Singh kept going.

This doubled the anger and ill-will of Chaudhary Charan Singh towards Indira Gandhi. But it was not possible to oust Chaudhary Charan Singh from the ground politics of Uttar Pradesh. He was considered the leading man for land reforms in Uttar Pradesh. Chaudhary Charan Singh had a decisive role in getting the Farmers Debt Relief Bill passed in 1939. In 1960, he also played an important role in the implementation of the Land Ceiling Act.

On the post of prime minister(Choudhary Charan Singh)

After the elections in 1977, when the Janata Party came to power at the Center, Morarji Desai became the Prime Minister with the support of King Maker Jayaprakash Narayan and Choudhary Charan Singh was made the Home Minister of the country. After this the differences between Morarji Desai and Choudhary Charan Singh came to the fore.

Thus, on July 28, 1979, Chaudhary Charan Singh succeeded in becoming the Prime Minister with the help of socialist parties and Congress (U). Congress I and CPI provided them outside support. It is clear that if Choudhary Charan Singh had not received the support of Indira Gandhi, he could not have become the Prime Minister under any circumstances.

The specialty of politics is that there is no place for permanent friendship and permanent enmity. Opponents also become friends and friends become opponents. This characteristic of politics could be seen especially in this period. Once Morarji Desai and Choudhary Charan Singh were the pillars of Janata Dal and also the best friends.

Resignation from the post of prime minister(Choudhary Charan Singh)

Indira Gandhi knew that the relationship between Morarji Desai and Choudhary Charan Singh had deteriorated. If Choudhary Charan Singh is persuaded to revolt by saying that he will support him, then the Janata Party will start splitting. Therefore, Indira Gandhi fueled the spirit of Choudhary Charan Singh to become the Prime Minister.

Chaudhary Charan Singh accepted Indira Gandhi’s words. He became the Prime Minister on 28 July 1979. But President Neelam Sanjiva Reddy made it clear that he should prove his majority in the Lok Sabha by August 20, 1979. Thus he got only 13 days to get the vote of confidence. But Indira Gandhi announced her withdrawal of support on August 19, 1979 without informing.

Now it was not a question of whether Chowdhury Saheb would get the vote of confidence by any means. He knew that getting a vote of confidence was impossible. It is pertinent to mention here that Indira Gandhi had put a condition for support. According to him, the cases registered by the Janata Party government against Indira Gandhi should be withdrawn. But Chaudhary sahib was not ready for this. You are reading Biography of Choudhary Charan Singh

Chaudhary Charan Singh did not accept this type of wrong bargaining. That is why he tolerated losing the Prime Minister’s chair. He knew that he had maintained the image of an honest leader and a principled man, it would be ruined forever. Therefore, without facing the Parliament even once, Choudhary Charan Singh resigned from the post of Prime Minister.

Mid term election(Choudhary Charan Singh)

Along with resigning from the post of Prime Minister, Chaudhary Charan Singh also recommended to President Neelam Sanjiva Reddy for mid-term elections so that no one else can claim the Prime Minister. The President dissolved the Lok Sabha on his recommendation.

Chaudhary Charan Singh felt that like Indira Gandhi, the Janata Party had become unpopular. Therefore, he kept hoping from his Lok Dal Party and the Socialists that he would get a majority in the mid-term elections. Apart from this, Chaudhary Charan Singh also hoped that due to his resignation, the public would definitely sympathize with him. He had high hopes from the people of Uttar Pradesh.

The popularity he enjoyed among the farmers was unquestionable. Choudhary Charan Singh entered the mid-term elections with the election slogan of ‘Kisan Raja’. The caretaker Prime Minister then was Choudhary Charan Singh when the mid-term elections were held. Choudhary Charan Singh remained the Prime Minister of India till January 14, 1980. Thus his tenure lasted for about nine months.

Personality (Choudhary Charan Singh)

Chaudhary Charan Singh’s personal image was that of a rustic man who believed in simple living and high thinking. Because of this, his dress reflected the simplicity of a farmer. As an administrator, he was considered very principled and disciplinarian. He was a strong opponent of red tape and corruption of government officials.

Biography of Choudhary Charan Singh:- Chaudhary Charan Singh was full of social justice and public service spirit. Choudhary Charan Singh was a politician and every politician has a natural desire to rise to the top of politics. There was nothing immoral in it. Chaudhary Charan Singh was a good orator and also an excellent parliamentarian.

Whatever work he had made up his mind to do, then he lived only after completing it. Chaudhary Charan Singh was a person with a clean image in politics. He believed in Gandhian ideology like his contemporaries. After independence, the Gandhi cap was discarded by many big leaders, but Choudhary Charan Singh kept it for life.

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Skilled writer(Choudhary Charan Singh)

Very few people would know that Chaudhary Charan Singh also had the soul of a skilled writer. He had a good command over the English language. He also authored the books ‘Abolition of Zamindari’, ‘Legend Proprietorship’ and ‘India’s Poverty and its Solutions’. The departure of Indira Gandhi in January 1980 became an important reason for Chaudhary Charan Singh political departure, although he continued to do public welfare as a consultant to the villagers.

Death of Choudhary Charan Singh

Age also started showing its effect during public welfare. Finally, the chariot of his life journey came to an end on May 29, 1987. The farmer leader who attained the age of 84 years passed away. He continued to live his life with Gandhian ideology till the end. He had a sense of loyalty towards the country. He was a true well-wisher of the farmers. In history, his name will be known more as a farmer leader than as a Prime Minister.

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