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Arjun Singh (Congress politician)

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For other uses, see Arjun Singh (disambiguation).

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.

Arjun Singh
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
In office
3 April 2000 (2000-04-03) – 4 March 2011 (2011-03-04)
ConstituencyMadhya Pradesh
Minister of Human Resource Development
In office
22 May 2004 (2004-05-22) – 22 May 2009 (2009-05-22)
Prime MinisterManmohan Singh
Preceded byMurli Manohar Joshi
Succeeded byKapil Sibal
In office
23 June 1991 (1991-06-23) – 24 December 1994 (1994-12-24)
Prime MinisterPamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao
Preceded byRajmangal Pandey
Succeeded byPamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao
Leader of the House in Lok Sabha
In office
July 10, 1991 (1991-07-10) – November 20, 1991 (1991-11-20)
Prime MinisterPamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao
Preceded byChandra Shekhar
Succeeded byPamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
1991 (1991)–1996 (1996)
Preceded bySukhendra Singh
Succeeded bySukhlal Kushwaha
ConstituencySatna
In office
1985 (1985)–1988 (1988)
Preceded byLalit Maken
Succeeded byConstituency vacant
ConstituencySouth Delhi
12th Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh
In office
14 February 1988 (1988-02-14) – 23 January 1989 (1989-01-23)
Preceded byMotilal Vora
Succeeded byMotilal Vora
In office
9 June 1980 (1980-06-09) – 12 March 1985 (1985-03-12)
Preceded byPresident's rule
Succeeded byMotilal Vora
Minister of Communications
In office
22 October 1986 (1986-10-22) – 13 February 1988 (1988-02-13)
Prime MinisterRajiv Gandhi
Preceded byRam Niwas Mirdha
Succeeded byVasant Sathe
Minister of Commerce
In office
15 November 1985 (1985-11-15) – 20 January 1986 (1986-01-20)
Prime MinisterRajiv Gandhi
Preceded byVishwanath Pratap Singh
Succeeded byPunjala Shiv Shankar
16th Governor of Punjab
In office
14 March 1985 (1985-03-14) – 14 November 1985 (1985-11-14)
PresidentGiani Zail Singh
Preceded byKershasp Tehmurasp Satarawala
Succeeded byHokishe Sema
Member of Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly
In office
1990 (1990)–1991 (1991)
Preceded byAjay Singh
Succeeded byAjay Singh
ConstituencyChurhat
In office
1988 (1988)–1990 (1990)
Preceded byLaxmi Patel
Succeeded byNand Kumar Patel
ConstituencyKharsia
In office
1977 (1977)–1985 (1985)
Preceded byChandra Pratap Tiwari
Succeeded byAjay Singh
ConstituencyChurhat
In office
1972 (1972)–1977 (1977)
Preceded byKP Singh
Succeeded byIndrajeet Patel
ConstituencySidhi
In office
1967 (1967)–1972 (1972)
Preceded byRanvijaya Pratap Singh
Succeeded byRanvijaya Pratap Singh
ConstituencyUmaria
In office
1957 (1957)–1967 (1967)
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byConstituency dissolved
ConstituencyMajholi
Personal details
Born(1930-11-05)5 November 1930
Churhat, Bagelkhand Agency, British India
Died4 March 2011(2011-03-04) (aged 80)
New Delhi, India
Political partyIndependent (1957-1960)
Indian National Congress (1960-1996, 1998-2011)
All India Indira Congress (Tiwari) (1996-1998)
SpouseSaroj Kumari
ChildrenAjay Singh
Abhimanyu Singh
Veena Singh
Alma materAllahabad University

The surrender of dacoit Phoolan Devi in 1983 was a significant event during his tenure as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, reflecting efforts by his government to restore law and order, particularly in the Chambal region, while also dealing with the underlying socio-economic issues.

He is widely remembered for introducing 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes in educational institutions including All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), with the passage of Ninety-third Constitutional Amendment and Central Educational Institutions(CEIs) (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006.[1] This led to anti-reservation protests against this act. The protests ended after Supreme Court of India upheld the reservations in higher education.[2]

Early life

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Arjun Singh was born on 5 November 1930 into a Rajput family[3][4] 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.[5]

Career

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Phoolan Devi surrendering on 13 February 1983 in the presence of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Arjun Singh.
 
Arjun Singh addressing inaugural function of National Science Centre, New Delhi on 9 January 1992

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.[6]

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.[6]

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.[6]

As chief minister, Singh implemented several populist initiatives, including the regularisation of slums and providing free electricity connections to residents. During his time in office, the dacoit Phoolan Devi surrendered. His five-year tenure was also notably marked by the Bhopal Gas Tragedy.[7]

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.[6]

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 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.[6]

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.[6] 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.[6]

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.

Social Justice

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Reservation for Other Backward Class (OBCs) in educational institutions

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Arjun Singh assumes the charge of Union Minister for Human Resource Development in New Delhi on 24 May 2004

Arjun Singh had immense contributions for social justice in India. He is credited with implementing reservations for Other Backward Classes in higher educational institutions. After the State Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Assam and West Bengal, Arjun Singh promised to reserve 27% seats for Other Backward Classes in All India Institutes of Medical Sciences, Indian Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Management, and other central universities. The Ninety-third Constitutional Amendment, that was introduced by the First Manmohan Singh ministry, granted a 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes in all Central Government educational institutions.

The 93rd Amendment Act of 2005 to the Indian Constitution added clause (5) in Article 15 which enables the government to make any special provision for the development of any socially and educationally backward classes of people, or scheduled castes or scheduled tribes, with regard to their enrolment in educational institutions, which would include private educational institutions, whether aided or unaided by the government, but apart from minority educational institutions. After the 93rd Amendment Act, the Central Educational Institutions(CEIs) (Reservation in Admission) Act, was enacted by the Union Parliament in the year 2006.

This led to widespread anti-reservation protests where students engaged in street protests across India. Later on, students took legal action against the Act by filing Public Interest Litigation, claiming that it violated the Basic Structure of the Constitution of India. In March 2007, the Supreme Court of India granted an injunction to suspension of OBC reservations.[8]

In April 2008, a 5-member constitutional bench of the Supreme Court, in the Ashoka Kumar Thakur v. Union of India case, upheld the Ninety-third Constitutional Amendment, and reinstated the Act in a judgement delivered by Chief Justice India K. G. Balakrishnan, with Justices Arijit Pasayat, C K Thakker, R V Raveendran and Dalveer Bhandari. OBC reservations were implemented in all central universities and institutions, but the government was required to exclude the creamy layer from the OBC, but not SC/ST.[9]

Controversies

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Bhopal Incident

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Arjun Singh was the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh when the deadly gas leak from the Union Carbide factory occurred. It is widely alleged that on the fateful night between 2 and 3 December 1984, when the gas leak occurred, Arjun Singh fled to his Kerwa Dam Palace (outside Bhopal) to save himself from deadly effects of leaked gas and was not available to manage the crisis or lead the administration.[10]

Subsequently, the Arjun Singh government's mishandling was criticised by the court in the verdict on the Bhopal disaster as pronounced by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bhopal on 7 June 2010. The media raised serious questions about his role in the release of Warren Anderson.[11]

In particular, the pilot of the aircraft in which Warren Anderson flew out of India after the gas leak, has recorded that the final sanction to permit the flight came from Arjun Singh's office.[12]

Churhat Lottery case and Kerwa Dam palace

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While Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Singh was involved in the scandal known as the Churhat Lottery case. The Churhat Children Welfare Society was floated in 1982 by relatives of Singh, and permitted to raise funds via lottery, and also given tax relief as a charity.[13] However, there were widespread allegations[14] that substantial sums of money were siphoned off from donations and used to construct the lavish Kerwa Dam Palace near Bhopal. The donations to the society included a Rs 150,000 donation from Union Carbide,[12] whose chief Warren Anderson was permitted to leave the country after the gas leak, allegedly by Arjun Singh's office.

At a public litigation hearing, the Madhya Pradesh High Court observed that "Arjun Singh owed an explanation to the nation about the costs and sources of construction of the palatial mansion in Bhopal".[15] While Singh had claimed the value of the palace was Rs 1.8 million, the IT Department estimated the cost at above Rs one crore.[16] However, a one-judge commission investigating the scandal gave a clean chit to Arjun Singh.[17] The case was re-opened however, after the Jain Hawala case,[15] and Singh was asked to submit fresh re-estimates of the palace cost. In court, the case was argued by Kapil Sibal and the order for re-examination was squashed on the grounds that it had been issued in a haste and "had not applied his mind".[15]

Other controversies

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After the Mumbai train bombings of 2006, he reportedly quoted at a Cabinet meeting the statements of a former judge of the Maharashtra High Court that an earlier attempt on the headquarters of the Hindu revivalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in Nagpur had been a plot set into motion by the Sangh itself. This followed his denouncement of the Ekal Vidyalayas, one-teacher schools run for the benefit of the tribals of India by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad,[18] as communal.[19]

A case under the Anti-Dowry Act was registered against Arjun Singh in 2007. The then Uttar Pradesh government had decided to seek CBI inquiry into dowry harassment case.[20]

Arjun Singh was accused of irregularities and corruption in the grant of "Deemed University" status to private for-profit educational institutions which did not meet requisite educational standards, during his tenure as Minister for Human Resources Development. The Government of India initiated proceedings to repeal the "Deemed University" status of 44 such institutions in January 2010.[21]

Death

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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.[22] He was cremated at his home town of Churhat.[23]

Family

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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.[24]

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

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Elections contested

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "The Central Educational Institutions(CEIs) (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006" (PDF). indiacode.nic.in. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 June 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  2. ^ "Supreme Court upholds Governments OBC quota in higher educational institutions". Archived from the original on 13 April 2008. Retrieved 12 April 2008.
  3. ^ Ananth, V. Krishna (3 June 2006). "Affirmative action the only answer". The Economic Times. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 30 June 2024. Satna had remained a safe seat for this Rajput chieftain. .... And in any case, Singh happens to be a Rajput and gone are the days when men from the upper castes were accepted as leaders by the OBCs or the Dalits.
  4. ^ Tomar, Shruti (3 November 2023). "Madhya Pradesh polls: Why is Congress again banking on OBC politics for power". Archived from the original on 30 June 2024. Retrieved 30 June 2024. In 1956, Vindhya Pradesh merged into Madhya Bharat (present-day Madhya Pradesh minus Chhattisgarh) and since then the region has given two Rajput chief ministers to the state --- Govind Narayan Singh and Arjun Singh.
  5. ^ "श्री अर्जुन सिंह". mpvidhansabha.nic.in. Archived from the original on 14 March 2024. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Mishra, Ashish (26 November 2018). "अर्जुन सिंह : मध्यप्रदेश का वो मुख्यमंत्री, जिसके पिता को पीएम नेहरू ने बेइज्जत कर दिया था". The Lallantop.
  7. ^ Singh, Deepak Kumar (14 April 2006). "Newsmaker: Arjun Singh". Business Standard. Archived from the original on 30 November 2024. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  8. ^ "Youth For Equality hails stay on OBC reservation". The Economic Times. 29 March 2007. Archived from the original on 10 August 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  9. ^ "Supreme Court upholds 27 per cent quota for OBCs". India Today. 11 April 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  10. ^ "Arjun Singh, the missing MP Chief Minister during Bhopal Gas tragedy". India TV News. 3 December 2014. Archived from the original on 4 February 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  11. ^ "How Anderson came and left" Archived 16 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine, The Bhopal Post, 9 June 2010.
  12. ^ a b "NATIONAL POLITICS: BJP loses appetite for dinner, not pact | News from Darjeeling, Dooars & Sikkim". Himalnews.wordpress.com. 13 June 2010. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  13. ^ O. P. Ralhan (1998). Encyclopaedia of political parties : India, Pakistan, Bangladesh; national, regional, local. Anmol Publications. ISBN 81-7488-865-9. p. 89
  14. ^ "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India – Main News". Tribune India. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  15. ^ a b c "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 20 June 2006. Retrieved 27 July 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. ^ Singh, N. K. (15 December 1986). "Police fortify Arjun Singh's mansion to prevent 'undesirable elements' from entering". India Today. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  17. ^ "Indian Express: Churhat deal probe draws blank". Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  18. ^ "VHP stepping up its drive to Hinduise tribal belts of Bihar". Archived from the original on 15 June 2006. Retrieved 30 July 2006.
  19. ^ "For Arjun Singh, 'Sri Rama' spreads hatred". newindpress.com. Archived from the original on 16 November 2006. Retrieved 27 July 2006.
  20. ^ "Maya seeks CBI probe against Arjun Singh in dowry case- Hindustan Times". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 4 August 2007.
  21. ^ "44 Deemed Universities To Be De-Recognised By Govt". The Times of India. 19 January 2010. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011.
  22. ^ "Congress veteran Arjun Singh dead". The Economic Times. 5 March 2011. Archived from the original on 25 September 2023. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  23. ^ "Arjun Singh to be cremated tomorrow in Churhat". APN News. 5 March 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  24. ^ "एमपी के पूर्व मुख्यमंत्री का पोता है जिस्म 2 का ये हीरो, इस एक्टर से प्रेरित होकर फिल्मों में रखा कदम". Aajtak. 16 February 2021.
  25. ^ CV at Indian Parliament website Archived 28 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  26. ^ "Arjun, Bhardwaj, Shinde elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha" Archived 22 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Tribuneindia.com, 20 March 2006.
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Preceded by Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India
2004–2009 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India
1991–1994 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh
1988–1989 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Communications, Government of India
1986–1988 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Commerce, Government of India
1985–1986 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Governor of Punjab
1985–1985 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh
1980–1985 		Succeeded by
 
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