Raja Nareshchandra Singh (21 November 1908 – 11 September 1987), was ruler of

Sarangarh Sarangarh is a New District in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. History During the British Raj era, Sarangarh State was one of several princely states governed by the Raj Gond dynasty of Rajputs. It was originally a dependency of the Ratan ...

state in

Raigarh District Raigarh district is a district of the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raigarh is the district headquarters. The district was formed by merging the princely states of Raigarh, Sakti, Sarangarh, Udaipur and Jashpur. Jashpur is now a sepa ...

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Prade ...

. He also served as Chief Minister of undivided Madhya Pradesh.

Early life

Raja Nareshchandra Singh was the last ruler of the Princely State of Sarangarh till the merger of his State into the union of India on 1 January 1948. The state now forms a part of the modern state of

in Central India. He had succeeded his father

Raja Bahadur Jawahir Singh ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested fr ...

who died in January 1946. Like his father, was an Alumnus of the

Rajkumar College, Raipur Rajkumar College (or RKC) in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, is one of the oldest K-12 foundations of India. It was founded by Sir Andrew Fraser in the year 1882 at Jabalpur. The School functioned at Jabalpur till 1892 and thereafter, shifted to its presen ...

and worked as an Honorary Magistrate in Raipur district before being inducted as the Education Minister in the administration of Sarangarh State.

Political career

After independence, he joined 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 Em ...

and won the first General Election held in 1951 for the State assembly of Madhya Pradesh. He represented Sarangarh Vidhan Sabha constituency by winning the

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

and 1957 Assembly Election. and Pussore Vidhan Sabha constituency by winning the Assembly election of 1962 and

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

. He was made Cabinet Minister in 1952 in Madhya Pradesh in Pandit Ravishankar Shukla's ministry and was given the portfolio of Electricity and Public Works departments. He headed the team in 1954 which created a separate department within the government to take care of the welfare of the Scheduled Tribes, christened The Directorate of Tribal Welfare. He was made the first Minister for Tribal Welfare in M.P. in 1955 and continued in this post till he became the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh in 1969 (13 March 1969 to 25 March 1969). Disgusted with the way politics had come to be practiced, he resigned from his post of Chief Minister, from the membership of the State Assembly and quit politics. In his later years he took to social work towards upliftment of people in Chhattisgarh.

Family

His wife, Rani Lalita Devi (died 7 November 1987) was elected unopposed from Pussour assembly constituency in his place in the by-election that was held after his resignation from the assembly in 1969. He had five daughters and one son. After his death, his son Raja Shishir Bindu Singh took over as the Raja of the Sarangarh state till 7 September 2016. The current Raja, after the death of her brother, is Raja Pushpa Devi Singh. Three of the daughters entered politics: Rajnigandha Devi was a Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha 1967-71), Kamala Devi was a member of State Assembly of Madhya Pradesh from 1971 to 1989, and a minister for 15 years, and Pushpa Devi Singh was elected thrice to 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 ...

Parliament in 1980, 1985 and 1991. The fourth daughter Dr. Menka Devi is a doctor, medico-social worker and an educationist. She is a member of the Indian National Congress. Purnima Devi is the youngest daughter His grand children are Nandita Singh, Chandravir Singh (children of Late Rajnigandha Devi), Mrinalika Singh (Daughter of Kamala Devi) and Kulisha Mishra (daughter of Dr Menka Devi). Kulisha Mishra is the National Joint Secretary of The Indian Youth Congress. Girivilas Palace

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Nareshchandra 1987 deaths 1908 births Indian National Congress politicians People from Madhya Pradesh History of Chhattisgarh Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh MLAs 1952–1957 Madhya Pradesh MLAs 1957–1962 People from Raigarh district People from Sarangarh Chief ministers from Indian National Congress