Anant Prasad Sharma (25 December 1919 – October 1988) was an Indian Railway Union leader, politician who became Minister of State for Industry, and Union Minister of the government of India. He was also the Governor of the State of Punjab and the

State of West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

. He was a member of the

3rd Lok Sabha List of Members of the 3rd Lok Sabha, (2 April 1962 – 3 March 1967) elected February–March 1962. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India. The election was held for 494 seats out of which Indian nati ...

and

5th Lok Sabha List of Members of the 5th Lok Sabha, ( 15 March 1971 — 18 January 1977) elected February–March 1971.The term of the House was extended two times by one year at a time. However, the House was dissolved after having been in existence for a ...

from

Buxar (Lok Sabha constituency) Buxar Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 40 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in Bihar state in eastern India. Assembly segments Presently, Buxar Lok Sabha constituency comprises the following six Vidhan Sabha (legislative assembly) se ...

. He also remained member of the

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

thrice, 1968-1971, 1978-1983 and 1984-1988.

Early years and education

Anant Sharma was born on 25 December 1919 to Ram Naresh Sharma, in his village named Gaudarh near Shahpur in Bhojpur District,

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

(then in

Shahabad District Shahabad district or Arrah district, headquartered at Arrah (now part of Bhojpur District, Bihar) was a Bhojpuri speaking district in western Bihar, India, making the western border of Bihar with Uttar Pradesh. In 1972, the district was split in ...

). He was born into a humble family. He studied at D.A.V. School.

Career

Sharma was a Railway Union Leader. Because of his career as a trade union leader, he was invited by

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

, the first Prime Minister of independent India, to run for the

Parliamentary elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

from the constituency of Buxar, Bihar. He ran and won in 1962 and again in 1971. In 1966, he became the President of

Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee The Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) is the political unit of the Indian National Congress for the state of Bihar. Its head office is situated in Patna at the Sadaqat Ashram. The current working presidents are Shyam Sunder Singh Dhee ...

(PCC). In 1974, he was made the Minister of State for Industry, Government of India, under the Prime Ministership of

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

. Thereafter, he went on to become the Union Minister for Ministries including Communications, Surface Transport, Shipping and Civil Aviation in Government of India. He was the Minister of Communications from 1982 to 1983. Shri A P Sharma became the Governor of the State of Punjab and the State of West Bengal in 1983.

Personal life

He was married to Tara Devi, and the couple had two sons and four daughters. He died in October 1988. His eldest son, Shri Hriday Narayan Sharma, an India Railway officer was asked by Shri Rajiv Gandhi to contest the Bihar State Assembly Elections from Dumraon in 1990. He is settled in Delhi along with his family.

References

* His second son was Mr manmohan Sharma was an officer in air India.his wife is also very religious {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharma, Anant 1919 births 1988 deaths Trade unionists from Bihar People from Bhojpur district, India Governors of West Bengal Governors of Punjab, India Union ministers of state of India Indian National Congress politicians Lok Sabha members from Bihar India MPs 1962–1967 India MPs 1971–1977 Rajya Sabha members from Bihar Civil aviation ministers of India Tourism ministers of India Members of the Cabinet of India