Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Jaswant Singh (; 3 January 193827 September 2020) was an officer of the Indian Army and an Indian Cabinet Minister. He was one of the founding members of the

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the List of ruling p ...

, and was one of India's longest serving parliamentarians, having been a member of the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

or 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 ...

almost continuously between 1980 and 2014. He was NDA's Vice-presidential candidate in the

2012 Indian vice presidential election The 2012 Indian Vice-Presidential election was held on 7 August 2012 to elect the Vice-President of India. Mohammad Hamid Ansari was the incumbent and the United Progressive Alliance, UPA candidate. The other prime candidate was the Nationa ...

. Singh was the only leader from

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

who had the distinction of becoming the Minister Of External Affairs,

Finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

and

Defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

. He was elected on a BJP ticket to the

five times (1980, 1986, 1998, 1999, 2004) and to the

four times (1990, 1991, 1996, 2009). During the Vajpayee administration between 1998 and 2004, he held multiple cabinet portfolios including

, External Affairs and

Defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

. He also served as the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission between 1998 and 1999. In the aftermath of India's nuclear tests of 1998, he was deputed by Prime Minister Vajpayee to act as India's representative to hold repeated, long-term dialogue with the United States (represented by

Strobe Talbott Nelson Strobridge Talbott III (born April 25, 1946) is an American foreign policy analyst focused on Russia. He was associated with ''Time'' magazine, and a diplomat who served as the Deputy Secretary of State from 1994 to 2001. He was president ...

) on matters related to nuclear policy and strategy; the outcome of the sustained engagement was positive for both countries. After his party lost power in 2004, Jaswant Singh served as

Leader of Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

in the

from 2004 to 2009. Singh incurred the displeasure of his party colleagues when, after the party suffered its second successive defeat in 2009, he circulated a note demanding a thorough discussion on the debacle. Weeks later, a book authored by him was released, in which he was found to have written sympathetically about Jinnah. Post the event, Singh found himself marginalized within the party. In the elections of 2014, his party decided not to field him from any constituency. He decided to contest anyway as an independent from his native constituency of Barmer (against Col. Sonaram Chaudhary) in

. He was expelled from the BJP on 29 March 2014 when he did not withdraw his independent candidature, and went on to lose the election. On 7 August 2014, Jaswant Singh suffered a fall in the bathroom of residence and suffered a serious head injury. In June 2020 he was admitted to Army's Research and Referral hospital in Delhi for treatment. He remained in a state of coma for six years till his death in 2020.

Early life

Singh was born on 3 January 1938 in the village of Jasol in

Barmer district Barmer District is a district in Rajasthan state of India. It is located in the western part of Rajasthan state forming a part of the Thar Desert. Barmer is the third largest district by area in Rajasthan and fifth largest district in India. Oc ...

of Rajasthan in a

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 ...

family. His father was Sardar Singh Rathore of Jasol and mother was Kunwar Baisa. Singh was married to Sheetal Kanwar. They had two sons. His elder son,

Manvendra Singh Colonel Manvendra Singh Jasol (born 19 May 1964) is an Indian politician. He is a member of the Indian National Congress. He joined Congress on 17 October 2018. He was the member of the 14th Lok Sabha of India from 2004-2009 representing the B ...

, is a former Member of Parliament from Barmer. He was an officer in the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

in the 1960s and was an alumnus of Mayo College and the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla. After his education from the National Defence Academy, he was enrolled in the

in the year 1957 and was designated to the position of the

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the Central India Horse unit of allegiance. And he was also a participant of

Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 or the Second Kashmir War was a culmination of skirmishes that took place between April 1965 and September 1965 between Pakistan and India. The conflict began following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was d ...

and was the commander of his unit and was the

at the time of

Sino-Indian border dispute The Sino-Indian border dispute is an ongoing territorial dispute over the sovereignty of two relatively large, and several smaller, separated pieces of territory between China and India. The first of the territories, Aksai Chin, is administe ...

of the year 1965 after which he retired from the

in the next year, 1966 to join politics after serving the Armed forces for 10 years. He was a close accompany of

Bhairon Singh Shekhawat Bhairon Singh Shekhawat (23 October 1923 – 15 May 2010) was the 11th vice president of India. He served in that position from August 2002, when he was elected to a five-year term by the electoral college following the death of Krishan Kant ...

and made his links with

Bharatiya Jana Sangh The Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh, full name: Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh; ) (ISO 15919: '' Akhila Bhāratīya Jana Saṅgha '' ) was an Indian right wing political party that existed from 1951 to 1977 and was the pol ...

. He was a member and associate of

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family" ...

from the 1960s.

Career events

In the government of Vajpayee, Singh was External Affairs Minister, and later went on to become the Finance Minister. He was also the Defence Minister when George Fernandes was forced to resign after the Tehelka exposure. Singh is widely regarded for his handling of relations with the United States which were strained after the 1998 Indian nuclear tests but which ameliorated soon after culminating in the 2000 visit of

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

to India. His skill as a negotiator and diplomat during talks with the United States has been well acknowledged by his U.S. counterpart

. Singh has been frequently criticized by political parties for escorting terrorists to

Kandhahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118. It is the ca ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. They were released by the Government of India in exchange for passengers from the hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC 814. Singh was denied a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

ticket for Barmer by BJP for the

2014 Indian general election General elections were held in India in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May 2014 to elect the members of the 16th Lok Sabha. With 834 million registered voters, they were the largest-ever elections in the world until being surpassed by the 2019 ...

over Col. Sonaram Choudhary. Unhappy, Singh filed his nomination as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

candidate from Barmer constituency. Subsequently, he was expelled from BJP for six years and lost the election.

Political life

Singh entered politics in the 1960s, with the first few years of his political life seeing limited recognition, until he was initiated in the

Jan Sangh The Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh, full name: Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh; ) (ISO 15919: '' Akhila Bhāratīya Jana Saṅgha '' ) was an Indian right wing political party that existed from 1951 to 1977 and was the pol ...

. He tasted success in his political career in 1980 when he was first selected for the

, the upper house of Indian parliament. He served as Finance minister in the short-lived government of

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (; 25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian politician who served three terms as the 10th prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months fr ...

, which lasted just from 16 May 1996, to 1 June 1996. After Vajpayee became Prime Minister again two years later, he became

Minister for External Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

of India, serving from 5 December 1998 until 1 July 2002. Responsible for

foreign policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...

, he dealt with high tensions between India and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. In July 2002 he became Finance Minister again, switching posts with Yashwant Sinha. He served as Finance Minister until the defeat of the Vajpayee government in May 2004 and was instrumental in defining and pushing through the market-friendly reforms of the government. He was conferred the

Outstanding Parliamentarian Award The Outstanding Parliamentarian Award is an award given by the Indian Parliamentary Group to an outstanding sitting Member of the Indian Parliament for overall contribution in the Indian Parliament. It was instituted in 1995 by Shivraj Patil, w ...

for the year 2001. On 19 August 2009, he was expelled from BJP after criticism over his remarks in his book which allegedly praised the founder of

in his book '' Jinnah – India, Partition, Independence''. His last major position was as

in the

from 2004 to 2009. He was denied a ticket by the party to contest the 2014

Parliamentary Elections from the Barmer-Jaisalmer constituency in

. He was subsequently expelled from the BJP after deciding to contest the elections as an

candidate and lost to his former party's candidate Col. Sonaram Choudhary. Jaswant Singh was elected from Darjeeling Seat from the year 2009 to 2014.

Ministries and Work

Jaswant Singh held many ministries under the government of

, including several important such as

, External Affairs and

. He has also held many important positions including that of Electronics and Science and Technology.

Minister of Finance (First time)

The Union Finance Minister Shri Jaswant Singh entering Parliament to present Interim General Budget in New Delhi on February 03, 2004

Singh remained as the

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

in the short-lived government of First Vajpayee government from 16 May 1996 to 1 June 1996. In the short-lived government where he was Minister for just 24 days and there was also economic difficulty, a crisis due to the political instability, and there was a loss of employment similar to the

1991 Indian economic crisis The 1991 Indian economic crisis was an economic crisis in India resulting from a balance of payments deficit due to excess reliance on imports and other external factors. India's economic problems started worsening in 1985 as imports swelled, lea ...

which lead to the decline in the value of

Indian currency The Indian rupee (symbol: ₹; code: INR) is the official currency in the republic of India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 ''paise'' (singular: ''paisa''), though as of 2022, coins of denomination of 1 rupee are the lowest value in use wher ...

. It was followed by the instability after the fall of Narsimha Rao government. After this there was a 1996 Bank Scam after this the fall of Atal Bihari Government automatically Singh was removed from the position and succeeded to

P. Chidambaram Palaniappan Chidambaram (born 16 September 1945), better known as P. Chidambaram, is an Indian politician and lawyer who currently serves as Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha. He served as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee ...

for the position.

Minister of External Affairs

After

becomes the

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...

for the second time in the year 1998, then Singh was appointed as the

Minister of External Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

and succeeded

himself for the position. He was at that time first

Rajasthani Rajasthani may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Rajasthan, a state of India * Rajasthani languages, a group of languages spoken there * Rajasthani people, the native inhabitants of the region * Rajasthani architecture * Rajasthani art ...

to be a Minister of External Affairs of India at Union level in the

Central Government A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or dele ...

. Singh has been one of the most trusted man of Vajpayee and was given task of making good international relation with other nations. He has been represented

nation A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by those ...

at international level in the times of

Kargil War The Kargil War, also known as the Kargil conflict, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control (LoC). In India, the conflict is also referr ...

and India's nuclear test. He was the one who went to

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...

after plane hijack. He remained Minister till 5 December 2002 after the removal of George Fernandes due to the Tehelka conspirancy. As the Minister of External Affairs he launched the first free-trade agreement (with

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

) in South Asia's history, initiated India's most daring diplomatic opening to

, revitalized relations with the US, and reoriented the Indian military, abandoning its Soviet-inspired doctrines and weaponry for close ties with the West.

Pokhran-II Pressure

Vladimir Putin in India 2-5 October 2000-1

BJP, came to power in 1998 general elections with an exclusive public mandate. BJP's political might had been growing steadily in strength over the past decade over several issues. At that time after the successful test of the Second Nuclear Bomb it was considered a masterstroke by the government, it was said that Singh along with

and George Fernandes were the one who played the important role in the functioning. He was one of the members of "Operation Shakti" and among the 12 people who knew about the secret mission. His most essential role came into existence after there were made international pressure on the nation due to the secrecy of the mission when

made a public announcement for the mission. At that time strong criticism was drawn from Canada on India's actions and its High Commissioner. Sanctions were also imposed by Japan on India and consisted of freezing all new loans and grants except for humanitarian aid to India. Some other nations also imposed sanctions on India, primarily in the form of suspension of

foreign aid In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. Ai ...

to India and government-to-government credit lines. However, the United Kingdom, France, and Russia refrained from condemning India. The biggest affect was on the relations of India with United States and there were made many restrictions on India and at that time Singh managed to control America at

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

Kargil War

After the

and the win of Indian Armed forces in July 1999 the use of WMD led to a serious pressure of the world on India and this was led by the anger of United States against India due to Pokhran-II Nuclear test series and supported in the favour of Pakistan. At that time Singh was the one who represented India at the international level and had made many interviews with news channels and also made diplomatic talks with leaders and representatives of the United States], China, France, and many other nations. After that Singh made an interview with

in which to strengthening the position of Government of India, Indian Government there was a release of a leaked conversation of

Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of the ...

in which he admitted that he was involved in the attack on India in Kargil district in 1999 and that he also planned an attack to kill

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi language, Punjabi: ; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime ...

and become the

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.Kargil War The Kargil War, also known as the Kargil conflict, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control (LoC). In India, the conflict is also referr ...

Kandahar Hijack

The terrorists of

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

hijacked the

Indian Airlines Flight 814 Indian Airlines Flight 814, commonly known as IC 814, was an Indian Airlines Airbus A300 en route from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, to Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, India, on Friday, 24 December 1999, whe ...

on 24 December 1999 on the Tribhuvan International Airport of Kathmandu, Nepal. The motive for the hijacking apparently was to secure the release of Islamist figures held in prison in India. The hostage crisis lasted for seven days and ended after India agreed to release three militants –

Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar (born 1967, also known as Mushtaq Latram) is a Kashmiri militant active in the Kashmiri insurgency, and founder of the militant outfit Al-Umar Mujahedeen. He spent considerable time in an Indian prison and was released in th ...

Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh ( ur, احمد عمر سعید شیخ; sometimes known as Umar Sheikh, Sheikh Omar,Note that this term is more commonly used in reference to Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman Sheik Syed or by the alias Mustafa Muhammad Ahmad;''CNN ...

, and Mulana

Masood Azhar Mohammad Masood Azhar Alvi is a radical Islamist and terrorist, being the founder and leader of the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed, active mainly in the Pakistani-administered portion of the Kashmir region. His actions a ...

. This hijack was also helped by

Dawood Ibrahim Dawood Ibrahim (; born 26 December 1955) is an Indian mafia gangster, drug kingpin, and wanted terrorist from Dongri, Mumbai. He reportedly heads the Indian organised crime syndicate D-Company, which he founded in Mumbai in the 1970s. Ibrahim i ...

and

Al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

linked

Jihadis Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...

. Then after too much suggestions and pressure then

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

agrees on the demand of the hijackers of

and sends Ajit Doval in

and after that Vajpayee decided to send Singh as he was the one of the most trusted man. He was sent to

to escort the terrorists and take back the crew members. It was also said that Singh has made a secret talks with

Foreign Minister

Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil Abdul Ghaffar (born 1971) is a politician in Afghanistan. He was the last Foreign Minister in the Taliban government of the first Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in 2001. Prior to this, he served as spokesman and secretary ...

and made an agreement of 3 terrorists in exchange of 170 crew members including men, women and children. Later terrorists also demanded 900 crores rupees and 36 other terrorists, but somehow it was denied. On 31 December 1999 on New Year of 2000 all 176 were released and they all landed to

Indira Gandhi International Airport Indira Gandhi International Airport is the primary international airport serving Delhi, the capital of India, and the National Capital Region (NCR). The airport, spread over an area of , is situated in Palam, Delhi, southwest of the New De ...

. The incident is seen as a failure of the BJP government under Prime Minister

and IB chief Ajit Doval said that India would have had a stronger negotiating hand if the aircraft had not been allowed to leave Indian territory. Doval, the IB chief, who led the four-member negotiating team to Kandahar, described the whole incident as a "diplomatic failure" of the government in their inability to make the US and UAE use their influence to help secure a quick release of the passengers. Singh also received criticism for praising the Taliban for their co-operation after the hostages had been returned. Defense

Minister of Defence

Singh was appointed as the Minister of Defence of India in the year 2000 after minister before him, George Fernandes was convicted in the Tehelka case and was forced to resign from his position. He remained as the Minister from 2000 to 2001 after which

Fernandes Fernandes is a surname in the Portuguese-speaking countries. The name is a patronymic form of the Portuguese and Spanish personal name ''Fernando''. Fernandes is the 243rd most common surname in the world, the 3rd one in Angola and in São Tom ...

was re-appointed as the Minister of Defence after getting cleanchit in the conspiracy. After that in the year 2002 he was re-appointed as the Minister of Finance of India in the Vajpayee Government.

Finance Minister (Second term)

Composition of indias agricultural output in 2003-04

After returning of George Fernandes as the Defence Minister for the second time after getting cleanchit in Tehelka case, Singh was appointed as the Union Minister of Finance in 2002 and remained till 2004 after the Vajpayee Government lost the 2004 General Election and passed the position to

. In his reign of 2 years for the second time he has been known to make market-friendly reforms in the Economy of India and due to his good diplomatic skills and good relations with other nations from the times when he was the

. In late 2002 and 2003 the government pushed through economic reforms. Due to the good administration of Jaswant Singh the country's GDP growth exceeded 7% every year from 2003 to 2007, following three years of sub-5% growth. Increasing foreign investment, modernisation of public and industrial infrastructure, the creation of jobs, a rising high-tech and IT industry and urban modernisation and expansion improved the nation's international image. Good crop harvests and strong industrial expansion also helped the economy. The rate of stock growth under him as the Finance Ministry was also at the one of the highest point in the Indian Economic Growth groth history under the period of two years of his ministry and the Inflation rate was also very much good in the period of the two years. From 2002 to 2004, the economy of India was one of the fastest growing in the world and one of the leading agricultural nations and second most output after

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Positions and offices

Leader of Rajya Sabha

Jaswant Singh was appointed as the Member of Parliament of Rajya Sabha for the fourth time in the year 1999 and after the formation of the Vajpayee Government he was appointed as the Leader of Rajya Sabha on 13 October 1999 and remained till the time of fall of the Vajpayee Government on 22 May 2004 and succeeded the position to then

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indir ...

. In the time period Jaswant Singh held many crucial positions and ministries and before that he was previously serving in the position of Minister of External Affairs of India at

Union Government 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, c ...

and in this period he served as Minister of Defence and

Leader of Opposition (Rajya Sabha)

After the Vajpayee's government fell down and after that Singh who was earlier a

from

from the state of

was appointed as the Leader of Opposition of

and hold the position for a time period of 5 years from 2004 to 2009. The mastermind of

when was appointed as the Vice President of India and at that time Singh took the responsibility of strengthening the party in Central level and main focus in the state of

. After the fall of

National Democratic Alliance National Democratic Alliance (NDA) () is a Centre-right politics, centre-right to Right-wing politics, right-wing and Conservatism, conservative Indian big tent political alliance led by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It was foun ...

in the year 2004 and the weakening of senior- BJP leaders like

Murli Manohar Joshi Murli Manohar Joshi (born 5 January 1934) is an Indian politician. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of which he was the President between 1991 and 1993, and the former Member of Parliament for Kanpur parliamentary constitue ...

, Lal Krishna Advani and the politics of other big leaders like

in central level, Singh as the leader of Opposition shifted his politics for the strengthening of the

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature f ...

in ground roots and in state levels in states of

Western India Western India is a loosely defined region of India consisting of its western part. The Ministry of Home Affairs in its Western Zonal Council Administrative division includes the states of Goa, Gujarat, and Maharashtra along with the Union te ...

such as

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

and specially

. Under this period Singh also served many non political position in the

Indian government The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the Government, national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy lo ...

remaining as the leader of Opposition including: "Member of Committee for General purposes (from 2005-2006)", "Member, Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests (from August 2004 to August 2004)" and "Member of Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Installation of Portraits/Statues of National Leaders and Parliamentarians in Parliament House Complex (August 2004May 2009)". After that then he was expelled from the party.

Vice president nominee

He was the candidate for the post of

Vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

for the NDA in 2012. Singh had filed his nomination papers on 20 July in the presence of

coalition leaders. Three sets of papers- one each by L. K. Advani,

Sumitra Mahajan Sumitra Mahajan ( ''née'' Sathe; born: 12 April 1943) is an Indian politician who was the Speaker of Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament from 2014 to 2019. She belongs to Bharatiya Janata Party. She represented the Indore con ...

and Yashwant Sinha, supporting Singh's candidature were submitted to the returning officer Viswanathan. His candidature was announced by the NDA on 16 July. He meet All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader

Jayalalithaa Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016) was an Indian politician and actress who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years over six terms between 1991 and 2016. From 9 February 1989 to 5 December 2 ...

and

Naveen Patnaik Naveen Patnaik (born 16 October 1946) is an Indian politician serving as the current and 14th Chief Minister of Odisha. He is also the president of the Biju Janata Dal, a writer and has authored three books. He is the longest-serving chief min ...

Biju Janata Dal The Biju Janata Dal (; BJD) is a regional political party in the Indian state of Odisha founded and led by Naveen Patnaik, the current Chief Minister of Odisha and the son of former Chief Minister of Odisha Biju Patnaik, after whom the party i ...

on 6 August asking them to support his candidature. He lost to Hamid Ansari who was the UPA's Vice presidential candidate. In the Election he got 238 seats and received 32.69% of the votes, while Hamid Ansari got 490 seats and received 67.31% of the votes.

Controversy

* A controversy erupted immediately after the release of his book, ''"A Call to Honour,"'' in which Singh insinuated that a mole had existed in the Prime Ministerial Office during the tenure of

P. V. Narasimha Rao Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao (28 June 1921 – 23 December 2004) was an Indian lawyer, statesman and politician who served as the 9th prime minister of India from 1991 to 1996. He is known for introducing various liberal reforms to Indi ...

, who had leaked information to U.S. sources about India's nuclear tests. Soon after, Indian Prime Minister

challenged him to name the mole. In response, Singh sent a letter to him. The letter, Manmohan Singh said later, had no signature, and no name of any mole. Jaswant Singh then backed off, saying his views on the subject were based on a "hunch". * Controversy hovered around him again when on 17 August 2009 another book authored by him, entitled '' Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence'', was released. In this he praised Mohammad Ali Jinnah and claimed that the centralised policy of

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 ...

was responsible for Partition. He was later expelled from the primary membership of BJP as a result of the ensuing controversy. In interviews with media he quoted BJP as narrow-minded and to have limited thought. In 2010, he was readmitted to BJP.

Death

In June 2020, Singh was admitted to the Delhi's Army Hospital and was being treated for

sepsis Sepsis, formerly known as septicemia (septicaemia in British English) or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage is follo ...

with multi-organ dysfunction syndrome and effects of a severe head injury he suffered as a result of a fall in 2014. On 27 September he suffered cardiac arrest. Singh died at the age of 82 years. His death was triggered as a sign of honour and was mourned with full esteem and with state funeral. His last rites were done by his son

and was cremated in

Jodhpur Jodhpur (; ) is the second-largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan and officially the second metropolitan city of the state. It was formerly the seat of the princely state of Jodhpur State. Jodhpur was historically the capital of the Ki ...

with full Hindu rituals. Due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

only family members were present and very few relatives.

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

reacted on his death stated that "Jaswant Singh Ji served our nation diligently, first as a soldier and later during his long association with politics. During Atal Ji's Government, he handled crucial portfolios and left a strong mark in the worlds of

and External affairs. Saddened by his demise"

Positions held

# 1980Elected to Rajya Sabha (1st term) # 1986Re-elected to Rajya Sabha (2nd term) # 19861989Member, Public Accounts Committee, Rajya Sabha # 19861989Member, Committee on Privileges, Rajya Sabha # 19861989Member, Committee on Public Undertakings, Rajya Sabha # 1989Elected to 9th Lok Sabha from

# 19901992Member, Consultative Committee constituted under the Punjab State Legislature (Delegation of Power) Act, 1987 # 19891991Member, Panel of chairmen, Lok Sabha # 19911996Chairman, Estimates Committee # 1991Re-elected to 10th Lok Sabha (2nd term) from

Chittorgarh Chittorgarh (also Chittor or Chittaurgarh) is a major city in Rajasthan state of western India. It lies on the Berach River, a tributary of the Banas, and is the administrative headquarters of Chittorgarh District. It was a major stronghol ...

# 19911992Chairman, Committee on Environment and Forests # 19911994Member, Business Advisory Committee # 1992Member, Joint Parliamentary Committee to enquire into Irregularities in Securities and Banking Transactions # 19931996Chairman, Standing Committee on Energy # 1996Re-elected to 11th Lok Sabha (3rd term) from

# May 1996June 1996Union Cabinet Minister, Finance # March 1998February 1998Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission # July 1998Re-elected to Rajya Sabha (3rd term) # December 1998July 2000Union Cabinet Minister, External Affairs # February 1999October 1999Union Cabinet Minister, Electronics (Simultaneous charge) # August 1999October 1999Union Cabinet Minister, Surface Transport (Simultaneous charge) # October 1999Re-elected to Rajya Sabha (4th term) # March 2001October 2001Union Cabinet Minister, Defence (Simultaneous charges) # July 2002April 2004Union Minister, Finance & Company Affairs # April 2002May 2004Union Cabinet Minister, Finance # 2004Re-elected to Rajya Sabha (5th term) # 2004Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha # August 2004August 2006Member, Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests # August 2004May 2009Member, Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Installation of Portraits/Statues of National Leaders and Parliamentarians in Parliament House Complex # August 2005Member, General Purposes Committee # 2009Re-elected to 15th Lok Sabha (4th term) from

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal, ...

# August 2009December 2009Chairman, Committee on Public Accounts # September 2009Member, Committee on Budget # January 2010Member, Committee on Public Accounts

Books

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

Notes

Citations

External links

* * * * * * * , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Jaswant Jaswant Singh 1938 births 2020 deaths India MPs 1989–1991 India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 1996–1997 India MPs 2009–2014 People from Barmer, Rajasthan Military personnel from Rajasthan Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Rajasthan Mayo College alumni Lok Sabha members from West Bengal Candidates in the 2014 Indian general election Leaders of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Deaths from sepsis People from Chittorgarh district People from Jodhpur district People from Darjeeling district Ministers for External Affairs of India Finance Ministers of India Military personnel of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 People of the Sino-Indian War Infectious disease deaths in India Indian vice-presidential candidates Indian Hindus Indian autobiographers Muhammad Ali Jinnah Rajasthani-language writers Rajasthani people Commerce and industry ministers Politicians from Jaipur Indian anti-communists English editors Anti-monarchists Hindu revivalist writers Hindu reformers Members of the Cabinet of India Vajpayee administration Candidates in the 2009 Indian general election Ministers for Corporate Affairs Rajya Sabha members from Rajasthan Lok Sabha members from Rajasthan Defence Ministers of India The Darling Foundation Prize laureates