ID :
32712
Fri, 11/28/2008 - 09:31
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Former Indian premier V P Singh dies
New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) Former Indian Prime Minister V P Singh, who dethroned late Rajiv Gandhi to form the first non-Congress coalition government at the Centre in 1989 and later did some social engineering through reservations that changed India's political course irreversibly, died here on Thursday.
The 77-year-old leader, who has been battling blood
cancer for over 17 years and renal failure, breathed his last
in Apollo Hospital where he was admitted some six months ago.
The end came at 1445 hours, a hospital spokesperson
said. He is survived by wife Sita Singh and two sons, Ajeya
and Abhay.
Singh was the Finance Minister and later Defence
Minister during Rajiv Gandhi's tenure and parted ways with
Congress over the Bofors pay-offs issue, whose ghost haunted
the Congress for many years.
After the 1989 elections, the Janata Dal led by V P
Singh came to power with outside support from BJP on one side
and that of the Left parties on the other, but his National
Front government did not last more than 11 months.
It fell after the BJP withdrew support following the
arrest of L K Advani during his Somnath to Ayodhya Rath Yatra
in 1991. The BJP leader was arrested by the JD government in
Bihar, then led by Lalu Prasad.
Singh's tenure as Prime Minister would be best known
for the social engineering as his government accepted the
Mandal Commission report on job reservations for Other
Backward Classes, which virtually 'mandalised' the politics in
many of the states.
Singh, once considered very close to Rajiv Gandhi,
quit his government in 1987 on the issue of corruption in
public life.
After being expelled from Congress, he launched 'Jan
Morcha', was elected to Lok Sabha from Allahabad and then
became a rallying point for the National Front comprising
Janata Dal, Telugu Desam, Asom Gana Parishad, DMK and
Congress(S). The Jan Morcha was merged with the Janata Dal
before the 1989 general elections.
In May 1996, after the defeat of Congress in the Lok
Sabha elections, Singh was the guiding spirit behind the
formation of the United Front and was the first choice for
Prime Ministership. But he declined the offer.
After the government of H D Deve Gowda fell in April
1997, he again played an important role from his hospital bed
along with the late Left veteran Harkishan Singh Surjeet in
maintaining the UF unity and making Inder Kumar Gujral the
Prime Minister.
Away from politics, Singh had always taken a keen
interest in poetry and painting and had also held exhibitions
of his artwork.
He has penned a number of poems and his first
anthology of poems 'Ek Tukda Dharti, Ek Tukda Asman' was
published some time back.
Perhaps the greatest rallying point for 'anti-
Congressism' in the country after Jaiprakash Narayan, Singh,
however, took positions nearer to that of Congress in late
years, particularly after BJP came to power at the Centre
in 1998.
Born in Allahabad on June 25, 1931, Singh studied
science with aspirations of becoming a nuclear scientist and
came out with flying colours in the B.Sc. examinations in
Ferguson College, Pune.
But he finally gave pursuing M.Sc. from Allahabad
University and was lured into politics. He made his debut as a
Congress legislator in 1969 winning the Uttar Pradesh assembly
elections and remained a member of the House till 1971, before
being elected for the first time to Lok Sabha.
Singh was inducted into Indira Gandhi's Council of
Ministers as a Deputy Minister of Commerce. After that, there
was no looking back for him.
In 1980 when Indira Gandhi returned to power, Singh
was made Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. His two-year stint
at the helm of India's largest state ended dramatically when
he quit in the wake of the anti-dacoit operations launched by
his government.
But soon he was made Commerce Minister in Gandhi's
cabinet. As Finance Minister in Rajiv Gandhi's government,
Singh gained popularity for ordering searches and raids
against industrial houses, hiring an American detective agency
Fairfax for investigating accounts of Non Resident Indians and
for taking up the Bofors pay-offs case. PTI ARC
The 77-year-old leader, who has been battling blood
cancer for over 17 years and renal failure, breathed his last
in Apollo Hospital where he was admitted some six months ago.
The end came at 1445 hours, a hospital spokesperson
said. He is survived by wife Sita Singh and two sons, Ajeya
and Abhay.
Singh was the Finance Minister and later Defence
Minister during Rajiv Gandhi's tenure and parted ways with
Congress over the Bofors pay-offs issue, whose ghost haunted
the Congress for many years.
After the 1989 elections, the Janata Dal led by V P
Singh came to power with outside support from BJP on one side
and that of the Left parties on the other, but his National
Front government did not last more than 11 months.
It fell after the BJP withdrew support following the
arrest of L K Advani during his Somnath to Ayodhya Rath Yatra
in 1991. The BJP leader was arrested by the JD government in
Bihar, then led by Lalu Prasad.
Singh's tenure as Prime Minister would be best known
for the social engineering as his government accepted the
Mandal Commission report on job reservations for Other
Backward Classes, which virtually 'mandalised' the politics in
many of the states.
Singh, once considered very close to Rajiv Gandhi,
quit his government in 1987 on the issue of corruption in
public life.
After being expelled from Congress, he launched 'Jan
Morcha', was elected to Lok Sabha from Allahabad and then
became a rallying point for the National Front comprising
Janata Dal, Telugu Desam, Asom Gana Parishad, DMK and
Congress(S). The Jan Morcha was merged with the Janata Dal
before the 1989 general elections.
In May 1996, after the defeat of Congress in the Lok
Sabha elections, Singh was the guiding spirit behind the
formation of the United Front and was the first choice for
Prime Ministership. But he declined the offer.
After the government of H D Deve Gowda fell in April
1997, he again played an important role from his hospital bed
along with the late Left veteran Harkishan Singh Surjeet in
maintaining the UF unity and making Inder Kumar Gujral the
Prime Minister.
Away from politics, Singh had always taken a keen
interest in poetry and painting and had also held exhibitions
of his artwork.
He has penned a number of poems and his first
anthology of poems 'Ek Tukda Dharti, Ek Tukda Asman' was
published some time back.
Perhaps the greatest rallying point for 'anti-
Congressism' in the country after Jaiprakash Narayan, Singh,
however, took positions nearer to that of Congress in late
years, particularly after BJP came to power at the Centre
in 1998.
Born in Allahabad on June 25, 1931, Singh studied
science with aspirations of becoming a nuclear scientist and
came out with flying colours in the B.Sc. examinations in
Ferguson College, Pune.
But he finally gave pursuing M.Sc. from Allahabad
University and was lured into politics. He made his debut as a
Congress legislator in 1969 winning the Uttar Pradesh assembly
elections and remained a member of the House till 1971, before
being elected for the first time to Lok Sabha.
Singh was inducted into Indira Gandhi's Council of
Ministers as a Deputy Minister of Commerce. After that, there
was no looking back for him.
In 1980 when Indira Gandhi returned to power, Singh
was made Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. His two-year stint
at the helm of India's largest state ended dramatically when
he quit in the wake of the anti-dacoit operations launched by
his government.
But soon he was made Commerce Minister in Gandhi's
cabinet. As Finance Minister in Rajiv Gandhi's government,
Singh gained popularity for ordering searches and raids
against industrial houses, hiring an American detective agency
Fairfax for investigating accounts of Non Resident Indians and
for taking up the Bofors pay-offs case. PTI ARC
