Arjun Singh (Madhya Pradesh politician) facts for kids
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Arjun Singh
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| Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha | |
| In office 3 April 2000 – 4 March 2011 |
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| Constituency | Madhya Pradesh |
| Minister of Human Resource Development | |
| In office 22 May 2004 – 22 May 2009 |
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| Prime Minister | Manmohan Singh |
| Preceded by | Murli Manohar Joshi |
| Succeeded by | Kapil Sibal |
| In office 23 June 1991 – 24 December 1994 |
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| Prime Minister | Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao |
| Preceded by | Rajmangal Pandey |
| Succeeded by | Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao |
| Leader of the House in Lok Sabha | |
| In office July 10, 1991 – November 20, 1991 |
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| Prime Minister | Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao |
| Preceded by | Chandra Shekhar |
| Succeeded by | Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao |
| Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha | |
| In office 1991–1996 |
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| Preceded by | Sukhendra Singh |
| Succeeded by | Sukhlal Kushwaha |
| Constituency | Satna |
| In office 1985–1988 |
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| Preceded by | Lalit Maken |
| Succeeded by | Constituency vacant |
| Constituency | South Delhi |
| 12th Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh | |
| In office 14 February 1988 – 23 January 1989 |
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| Preceded by | Motilal Vora |
| Succeeded by | Motilal Vora |
| In office 9 June 1980 – 12 March 1985 |
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| Preceded by | President's rule |
| Succeeded by | Motilal Vora |
| Minister of Communications | |
| In office 22 October 1986 – 13 February 1988 |
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| Prime Minister | Rajiv Gandhi |
| Preceded by | Ram Niwas Mirdha |
| Succeeded by | Vasant Sathe |
| Minister of Commerce | |
| In office 15 November 1985 – 20 January 1986 |
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| Prime Minister | Rajiv Gandhi |
| Preceded by | Vishwanath Pratap Singh |
| Succeeded by | Punjala Shiv Shankar |
| 16th Governor of Punjab | |
| In office 14 March 1985 – 14 November 1985 |
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| President | Giani Zail Singh |
| Preceded by | Kershasp Tehmurasp Satarawala |
| Succeeded by | Hokishe Sema |
| Member of Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly | |
| In office 1990–1991 |
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| Preceded by | Ajay Singh |
| Succeeded by | Ajay Singh |
| Constituency | Churhat |
| In office 1988–1990 |
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| Preceded by | Laxmi Patel |
| Succeeded by | Nand Kumar Patel |
| Constituency | Kharsia |
| In office 1977–1985 |
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| Preceded by | Chandra Pratap Tiwari |
| Succeeded by | Ajay Singh |
| Constituency | Churhat |
| In office 1972–1977 |
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| Preceded by | KP Singh |
| Succeeded by | Indrajeet Patel |
| Constituency | Sidhi |
| In office 1967–1972 |
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| Preceded by | Ranvijaya Pratap Singh |
| Succeeded by | Ranvijaya Pratap Singh |
| Constituency | Umaria |
| In office 1957–1967 |
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| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Constituency dissolved |
| Constituency | Majholi |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 5 November 1930 Churhat, Bagelkhand Agency, British India |
| Died | 4 March 2011 (aged 80) New Delhi, India |
| Political party | Independent (1957-1960) Indian National Congress (1960-1996, 1998-2011) All India Indira Congress (Tiwari) (1996-1998) |
| Spouse | Saroj Kumari |
| Children | Ajay Singh Abhimanyu Singh Veena Singh |
| Alma mater | Allahabad University |
Arjun Singh (5 November 1930 – 4 March 2011) was an Indian politician from the Indian National Congress, who served twice as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh in the 1980s. He also served twice as the Union Minister of Human Resource Development, in the Manmohan Singh and P. V. Narasimha Rao ministries.
He is widely remembered for introducing 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes in educational institutions including IITs, NITs, IIMs, AIIMS and IISc, with the 93rd Constitutional Amendment and Central Educational Institutions(CEIs) (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006.
Early life
Arjun Singh was born on 5 November 1930 into a Rajput family as the son of Shiv Bahadur Singh, a jagirdar and the 26th Rao of Churhat thikana, and an INC politician. He received his Bachelor of Laws from Rewa Darbar College, where he was the student union president in 1953.
Career
Arjun Singh was first elected to the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly in 1957 from Majholi as an independent candidate. He joined the Indian National Congress in 1960. He was re-elected from Majholi in 1962 and became a minister in the INC government of Dwarka Prasad Mishra.
In 1967, he lost the election from Churhat due to a fallout with the then chief minister Dwarka Prasad Mishra. However, he won a bypoll in the same year from Umaria. He was elected from Sidhi in 1972 and became a minister in the INC government of Prakash Chandra Sethi.
In 1977, he was elected from Churhat and became the Leader of Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly. In 1980, when INC achieved a simple majority in the assembly, he won from Churhat and became the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, despite the presence of strong contenders such as Sethi, Vidya Charan Shukla and Shiv Bhanu Singh Solanki.
His five year term was marked by the Bhopal Gas Tragedy.
He led the INC to victory in 1985, yet again winning from Churhat, but was forced to resign as Chief Minister after just one day due to differences with Sriniwas Tiwari. Motilal Vora succeeded him as Chief Minister.
He resigned his Madhya Pradesh assembly seat and was appointed Governor of Punjab in 1985. He worked for the implementation of the Rajiv-Longowal Accord for peace in Punjab. However, after eight months, he resigned as Governor and became Minister of Commerce in the Rajiv Gandhi cabinet. He was elected to the Lok Sabha from South Delhi in a bypoll in 1985, necessitated by the assassination of the sitting MP Lalit Maken. He was appointed as First Vice-President of Indian National Congress by Rajiv Gandhi.
In 1986, he resigned the Commerce ministry and was appointed Minister of Communications. He held this post till 1988 when he returned to the Government of Madhya Pradesh and again became Chief Minister of the state. He resigned his Lok Sabha seat and won a bypoll to the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly from Kharsia in 1988. However, he resigned as Chief Minister in 1989 owing to the Churhat lottery scam, and was succeeded by Motilal Vora. He won in 1990 from Churhat.
In 1991, he won from Satna. He resigned his assembly seat and harboured ambitions of becoming Prime Minister after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.
However, P. V. Narasimha Rao became Prime Minister and Singh was appointed the Minister of Human Resource Development. He publicly expressed discontent with the Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao after the Babri Masjid demolition. He resigned as Minister of Human Resource Development in 1994.
In 1996, he rebelled against the INC leadership and formed the All India Indira Congress (Tiwari) along with Narayan Dutt Tiwari. However, he lost in 1996 from Satna.
Later, he returned to INC after the emergence of Sonia Gandhi. He lost in 1998 from Hoshangabad.
He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2000 from Madhya Pradesh and was re-elected in 2006. He was awarded the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award in 2000. He served as Minister of Human Resource Development from 2004 to 2009 in the Manmohan Singh cabinet.
Arjun Singh promised to implement 27% reservation for OBCs in institutes of higher education (twenty central universities, the IITs, NITs, IIMs, AIIMS and IISc) after the State Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Assam and West Bengal, in accordance with the 93rd Constitutional Amendment which was passed unanimously by both Houses of Parliament. This amendment enabled provision of reservation (27%) for Other Backward Class (OBCs) in government as well as private educational institutions.
This decision of government lead to the 2006 Indian anti-reservation protests. On 10 April 2008, the Supreme Court upheld the law for the provision of 27% quota for candidates belonging to the Other Backward Classes in IITs, NITs, IIMs, AIIMS, IISc and other premier educational institutions. But it directed the government to exclude the "creamy layer", families whose annual salary in more than ₹4,50,000, among the OBCs while implementing the law. However, the "creamy layer" exclusion would not be applied to the SC/STs.
Death
Singh died on 4 March 2011, at the age of 80. He had been admitted in Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences with chest pain and neurological problems, and died of a heart attack. He was cremated at his home town of Churhat.
Family
Arjun Singh's son Ajay Singh aka Rahul Bhaiya is an INC politician and former Leader of Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly. His grandson is Arunoday Singh, a Bollywood actor.
Another grandson of his, Yuvaraja Aishwarya Singh of Singrauli is married to Devyani Rana, great-granddaughter of Mohan Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana, the last Shree Teen Maharaja of Nepal. Devyani’s father- His Highness Shree Teen Maharaja Pashupati Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana is the titular Shree Teen Maharaja of Nepal.
Positions held
- 1957 - 1985 Member, Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly
- 1963 - 1967 Minister of State for Agriculture, General Administration Department (GAD) and Information & Public Relations, Government of Madhya Pradesh
- 1967 Minister of Planning and Development, Government of Madhya Pradesh
- 1972 - 1977 Minister of Education, Government of Madhya Pradesh
- 1977 - 1980 Leader of Opposition, Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly
- 1980 - 1985 Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh
- 1985 - 1985 Governor of Punjab
- 1985 - 1988 Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
- 1985 - 1986 Minister of Commerce, Government of India
- 1986 - 1988 Minister of Communications, Government of India
- 1988 - 1991 Member, Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly
- 1988 - 1989 Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh
- 1991 - 1996 Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
- 1991 - 1994 Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India
- 2000 - 2011 Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
- 2000 - 2004 Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Home Affairs
- 2001 - 2004 Member, Committee on Rules
- 2002 - 2004 Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Purposes Committee
- 2004 - 2009 Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India
Elections contested
- 1957 - Won from Majholi (IND)
- 1962 - Won from Majholi (INC)
- 1967 - Lost from Churhat (INC)
- 1967 - Won Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly bypoll from Umaria (INC)
- 1972 - Won from Sidhi (INC)
- 1977 - Won from Churhat (INC)
- 1980 - Won from Churhat (INC)
- 1985 - Won from Churhat (INC)
- 1985 - Won Lok Sabha bypoll from South Delhi (IND)
- 1988 - Won Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly bypoll from Kharsia (INC)
- 1990 - Won from Churhat (INC)
- 1991 - Won from Satna (INC)
- 1996 - Lost from Satna (AIICT)
- 1998 - Lost from Hoshangabad (INC)
- 2000 - Won Rajya Sabha election from Madhya Pradesh (INC)
- 2006 - Won Rajya Sabha election from Madhya Pradesh (INC)
See also
- 2006 Indian anti-reservation protests
- Reservation in India
- Forward caste
