Contents
Chaudhary Charan Singh (1902–1987) was an Indian agricultural intellectual and politician. Among farmers, he was known as “Chaudhary Saheb” and “Champion of the farmers of India”. Being the son of a farmer born in British India, he knew the plight of the Indian agricultural society. He was highly influenced by Dayanand Saraswati and Mahatma Gandhi. He participated in India’s independence movement under the leadership of Gandhiji and fought against the harshness and prejudices prevalent in the society at that time by becoming a member of Arya Samaj. He served as the 5th Prime Minister of India. He also served as the 5th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Apart from these, he held many key positions in the Central Government like Deputy Prime Minister, Finance Minister, Home Minister and Agriculture Minister. He died in 1987 after a long illness.
Wiki/Biography
Chaudhary Charan Singh was born on Tuesday, 23 December 1902 (age 84 years at death) in Noorpur village, Meerut district, United Province, British India (now Uttar Pradesh, India). Their zodiac sign is Capricorn. He completed his primary education from a school in Jani Khurd. He was a bright student and wanted to study further, but his father was unable to finance his education with his meager earnings. Charan’s uncle Lakhpat Singh, who was in the Indian Army, believed in him and gave him a chance to study further. He went to Meerut to continue his studies. He completed his matriculation in 1919 and intermediate in 1921 from Government High School, Meerut. Subsequently, he joined Agra College, Agra, where he studied Bachelor of Science in 1923. After graduation, he pursued an MA in History (British). European, Indian) and then enrolled in LLB at Meerut College (Agra University). His higher education was an achievement in itself as India’s overall literacy rate at that time was only 3.1%.
Charan Singh’s alma mater, Meerut College
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 7″
Hair Color: Gray
Eye colour: black
Family
parents and siblings
Charan Singh’s father Mir Singh was a tenant in Noorpur village. Reportedly, after the Zamindar took back his land from Mir Singh, he moved to Bhup Garhi, Meerut. After a few years, he bought a small piece of land in Bhadaul village of Meerut and settled there permanently. Charan Singh’s mother, Netra Kaur, was a housewife; His parents were married in 1898. Charan Singh had 4 siblings, 2 brothers, Shyam Singh and Maan Singh, and 2 sisters, Ram Devi and Risalo Devi.
Charan Singh’s parents, Mir Singh and Netra Kaur
wife and children
Charan Singh was married to Gayatri Devi of Sonipat on 5 December 1925. They had 6 children, 5 daughters, Satyavati, Vedavati, Gyanvati, Saroj, Sharda and a son, Ajit Singh. His wife, Gayatri Devi, was elected a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from the Iglas (Aligarh) constituency in 1969 and from the Gokul constituency in 1974. Later, she became a member of the lower house of parliament from the Kairana constituency. His son Ajit Singh carried on his legacy and held several key ministries in the central government. His grandson Jayant Chaudhary is also a politician.
Charan Singh (front row, first from left) with his wife and children
religion/religious views
In the early stage of life he was influenced by Arya Samaj. According to Arya Samaj, true religion is truth, knowledge and moral life. Therefore Charan Singh named his 3 children Satya, Ved and Gyan. He condemned religious rituals and practices of idol worship.
Chaudhary Charan Singh (sixth from right in the third row) with members of Arya Samaj
Caste
Charan Singh belonged to a Jat family of the “Tewatia” clan in the Rohilkhand region of the north-western part of the United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh). He was a staunch supporter of social equality. To reveal this, during his college days, he used to eat food cooked by a Dalit person. In an interview, he talked about his views on the caste system and said,
After graduation, I was offered the post of Vice-Principal in Jat High School but it had a caste name in it and I could not accept it. I have been against this social system since childhood.
signature/autograph
Charan Singh’s signature
livelihood
civil lawyer
Charan Singh, after completing LLB, became a practicing lawyer in the Ghaziabad Civil Court in 1928, which he continued till 1939.
Politician
He joined the Indian National Congress in 1929. In 1930, he was elected Vice-President of the Meerut District Board, but soon, the British administration jailed him for 6 months for participating in the Salt Satyagraha led by Mahatma Gandhi. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of United Province (now Uttar Pradesh) from Chhaprauli (Baghpat) in 1937, winning this seat 8 times. Soon after, he introduced several important bills to protect the interests of tenants and managed to get some of them passed. The most important was the United Province Agricultural and Labor Debt Redemption Bill, which freed many farmers from the clutches of moneylenders. In 1948, Gobind Ballabh Pant became Prime Minister of Uttar Pradesh, and appointed Charan Singh as his Parliamentary Secretary.
Charan Singh (third from right) in Gobind Ballabh Pant’s cabinet in 1948.
Serving as Pant’s secretary, he authored the Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Bill, which became an Act on 24 January 1951. He considered it a milestone in his career. He said,
Harijan people, J.B.N. People, landless people, unemployed people or those who have less employment and 50% percent of the farmers of their country who have only less than 1 hectare of land… all these have to be given special attention of the government.
Zamindari Abolition Act news covered by HT
From 1951 to 1954, he served in various positions such as Minister of Justice and Information, Minister of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry and Minister of Revenue in the government of Gobind Ballabh Pant. When Sampurnanand became the Chief Minister of UP, he chose Charan Singh as the Minister of Revenue, Irrigation and Power. He was the Home Minister in Chandrabhanu’s government and Agriculture Minister in Sucheta Kripalani’s government.
Charan Singh (front left) in Chandrabhanu’s cabinet
In 1967, he became the first non-Congress CM of Uttar Pradesh and formed a government in coalition with the United Legislative Party, but it was a short-lived tenure. Later, he founded the Bharatiya Kranti Dal in 1968. In 1970, he won again and became CM of the state for the second time, but this again lasted only for a few months.
In 1974 he founded the Bharatiya Lok Dal. On 25 June 1975, Charan Singh was sent to jail for the first time in independent India as emergency was declared by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. In 1977, he came out of jail and helped form the Janata Party by merging the Bharatiya Lok Dal and the Janata Dal to oppose Indira Gandhi. In 1977, he was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time from Baghpat constituency. Morarji Desai kept him in his cabinet as Union Finance Minister and later Home Minister.
Charan Singh (first from left) with PM Morarji Desai as Home Minister
Following the resignation of Morarji Desai in 1979, Charan Singh became the Prime Minister of India, but after 23 days in office, just before he was to prove his majority in Parliament, Indira Gandhi withdrew her support to the Charan Singh government. , He founded Lok Dal in 1980 and Dalit Mazdoor Kisan Party in 1984.
Death
He died on 29 May 1987 after a prolonged illness. He was cremated at Kishan Ghat next to Mahatma Gandhi’s mausoleum in New Delhi.
Facts/General Knowledge
- Chaudhary Charan Singh’s birthday (23 December) is celebrated as Farmers Day in India.
- The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) instituted an award in his name, the Chaudhary Charan Singh Award, in 2000. It is given annually for excellence in journalism in agricultural research and development. It carries a cash prize of Rs. 1,00,000 and a certificate.
- He became the first non-Congress CM of Uttar Pradesh.
- There are two universities named after him, Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut (earlier Meerut University), and Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar (earlier Haryana Agricultural University).
- Amausi Airport near Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh was named Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport after him in 2008.
Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport Lucknow
- His memorial in Delhi is next to Raj Ghat and is named “Kisan Ghat”.
Charan Singh Memorial Kisan Ghat
- Following the Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, approximately 27,000 Patwaris resigned in protest. Chaudhary Charan Singh accepted his resignation without any hesitation but did not make any amendments in the Act. After this he recruited new Patwaris who were known as Lekhpal.
- He wrote many books based on agriculture, development and rural economy. Some of these are Land Reforms in UP and Kulaks, Abolition of Zamindari, Two Options, Joint Farming And treatment.
- His opponents often called him “Chair Singh” because of his switching sides. According to him, Charan Singh was only loyal to the government. He even said that he was the originator of “Aaya Ram Gaya Ram” (party switching and political horse-trading).
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn