Last Updated: February 09, 2024, 13:36 IST
Charan Singh was the pre-eminent peasant leader in post-independence India
Chaudhary Charan Singh was a leader, politician and freedom fighter who served as the fifth Prime Minister of India from July 1979 and January 1980
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of the nation, for two former Prime Ministers PV Narasimha Rao and Chaudhary Charan Singh.
Taking to the microblogging site X, PM Modi wrote, “It is the good fortune of our government that former Prime Minister of the country Chaudhary Charan Singh is being honoured with Bharat Ratna.”
The prime minister said that the honour is dedicated to Charan Singh’s “incomparable contribution to the country”.
Who was Chaudhary Charan Singh?
Leader of the Janata Party, Chaudhary Charan Singh was a leader, politician and freedom fighter who served as the fifth Prime Minister of India from July 1979 and January 1980. He was the pre-eminent peasant leader in post-independence India.
Singh’s political career began in 1937 when he was first elected to the UP Legislative Assembly from Chhaprauli, and represented the constituency in 1946, 1952, 1962 and 1967.
He later became Parliamentary Secretary in Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant’s Government in 1946 and worked in various departments such as Revenue, Medical and Public Health, Justice, and Information.
In June 1951, he was appointed Cabinet Minister in the State and given charge of the Departments of Justice and Information. Later he took over as the Minister for Revenue and Agriculture in the Cabinet of Dr Sampurnanand in 1952. When he resigned in April 1959, he was holding charge of the Department of Revenue and Transport.
Singh also served as Minister for Agriculture and Forests in 1962 in Sucheta Kripalani’s Ministry.
After the Congress split, he became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for the second time in February 1970 with the support of the Congress. However, the President’s Rule was imposed in the State on October 2, 1970.
Charan Singh: The Author
Chaudhary Charan Singh led a simple life and was a well-known writer. He was the author of several books and pamphlets, including ‘Abolition of Zamindari’, ‘Co-operative Farming X-rayed’, ‘India’s Poverty and its Solution’, ‘Peasant Proprietorship or Land to the Workers’ and ‘Prevention of Division of Holdings Below a Certain Minimum’.