Charan singh

Charan Singh

Charan Singh served as the 6th Prime Minister of India from 28 July 1979 until 14 January 1980. He entered politics as part of the Independence Movement for the Congress Party. In 1952 he became the Revenue Minster of the state of Uttar Pradesh. He opposed Nehru’s socialist economic reforms and was of the opinion that cooperative farms would not succeed in India as he believed the right of ownership was important for a farmer. He left the Congress in 1967 and became the leader of the Bharatiya Lok Dal which was a major constituent of the Janata Dal- a coalition of parties that opposed the Emergency. He became Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1967, and later in 1970. In 1975, he was jailed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who had declared Emergency and had arrested all her political opponents. When the Emergency was revoked in 1977 and the Janata Dal came into power, Charan Singh served as Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister in the administration that was led by Morarji Desai.

He became Prime Minister in 1979. During his term as Prime Minister, he identified Pakistan's nuclear ambition as a major threat to India. He also thought that Indian labour laws should be refined if India were to become competitive in the world economy. He opened high level diplomatic relations with Israel, which were later curtailed by Indira Gandhi’s government following the 1980 elections. Charan Singh died on 29 May 1987.