Chandrashekhar Singh (17 August 1927 - 9 July 1986) was a member of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

and served as the 16th Chief Minister of Bihar from August 1983 to March 1985. He also held a number of Union State Minister positions in the Ministry of Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. He was elected to Bihar Vidhan Sabha four times, and also to the Parliament a few times. He last held the position of Union Minister of Petroleum, during which he died due to cancer. He was elected to the Bihar Vidhan Sabha in 1952, 1957 and 1969 from Jhajha (Vidhan Sabha constituency). He lost from Jhajha (झाझा) in 1962. He was elected to Vidhan Sabha from Chakai (चकाई) in 1972. He was also related to

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

stalwart

Satyendra Narayan Sinha Satyendra Narayan Sinha (12 July 1917 – 4 September 2006) was an Indian politician and statesman, participant in the Indian independence movement, a leading light of Jaya Prakash Narayan's ‘ ''complete revolution''’ movement during the E ...

. In 1980, he won the parliamentary elections with an overwhelming majority from

Banka (Lok Sabha constituency) Banka Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 40 Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar state in eastern India. This comprises the Banka district. Vidhan Sabha segments Presently, Banka Lok Sabha constituency comprises the following six Vidhan Sabha ( ...

. In 1983, he was handpicked by Indira Gandhi to become the

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

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 ...

. After the 1985 elections, he was asked by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to return to

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

as Union Minister of Petroleum. He won a by-poll for Banka Lok Sabha seat in 1985. After his death in 1986, his widow Manorama Singh won the by-poll necessitated by his death. He was elected to the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the ...

a total of 5 times. A museum has also been opened in Jamui in Bihar in his name. It was established in 1983 by the state government to preserve the antiquities of the surrounding areas.

Political career

He was a grassroots congressman, being connected to all workers at village level. He also served the

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

party at all levels from village to state level. He got elected to state assembly for first time in year 1952 when he was just 25 years. He got reelected again in the year 1957. After taking break for few years he contested elections and re-entered assembly in year 1969 and remained member till 1977. Though he contested Lok Sabha elections in 1977 as congressman, due to Janata waive he couldn't make it. However he got elected in 1980 defeating Madhu Limaye from Banka seat. He also acted in administrative capacity and became parliament secretary. He was later inducted into cabinet for various ministries such as Revenue, Industry, Minor Irrigation, Law and Public works. In 1983 Cabinet reshuffle he was made Minister of State for Energy.

Freedom movement

Chandrashekhar Singh was a part of the famous Young Turks of Bihar Congress during the independence movement along with

Bindeshwari Dubey Bindeshwari Dubey (14 January 1921 – 20 January 1993) was a freedom fighter, trade unionist and politician who served as Chief Minister of Bihar between 12 March 1985 and 13 February 1988. Dubey was involved in the nationalisation of India ...

Bhagwat Jha Azad Bhagwat Jha Azad was an Indian freedom fighter and politician. He served as Chief minister of Bihar from 14 February 1988 to 10 March 1989. He was at various times a member of parliament and a member of the Bihar state legislature. Political ...

Abdul Gafoor ʻAbd al-Ghaffār (ALA-LC romanization of ar, عبد الغفار) is a male Muslim given name, and, in modern usage, surname, built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and '' al-Ghaffār'', one of the names of God in the Qur'an, which give rise to th ...

Kedar Pandey Kedar Pandey (14 June 1920 – 3 July 1982) was an Indian freedom fighter and Indian National Congress politician, who remained the Chief Minister of Bihar from March 1972 to 2 July 1973, and Minister of Railways in the Union Cabinet from 12 ...

all future chief ministers and

Sitaram Kesri Sitaram Kesri (15 November 1919 – 24 October 2000) was an Indian politician and parliamentarian. He became a union minister and served as President of the Indian National Congress from 1996 to 1998. __TOC__ Political career Pre-Independen ...

, future national president of Indian National Congress.

Personal background

He also held a postgraduate degree in economics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Chandrashekhar Chief Ministers of Bihar Indian independence activists from Bihar Indian government officials People from Jamui district 1927 births 1986 deaths India MPs 1967–1970 India MPs 1971–1977 India MPs 1977–1979 India MPs 1980–1984 India MPs 1984–1989 Lok Sabha members from Bihar Bihar MLAs 1980–1985 Chief ministers from Indian National Congress India MPs 1989–1991