Chaudhary Prem Singh (20 December 1932 – 12 December 2017) was an Indian politician from

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

. He contested his first election from Ambedkar Nagar in 1958, and made a World Record of Continuously Winning 12 elections from Same Party & Same Constituency. Prem Singh was elected to the

Municipal Corporation of Delhi Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is the municipal corporation that governs most of Delhi, India. The MCD is among the largest municipal bodies in the world providing civic services to an estimated population of more than 11 million citiz ...

(MCD) in 1958 and 1962. He was then elected to the Metropolitan Council of Delhi four times during 1972–1983. He was elected to the

Delhi Legislative Assembly The Delhi Legislative Assembly, also known as the Delhi Vidhan Sabha, is a unicameral legislature of the union territory of Delhi in India. Delhi Legislative Assembly is the legislative arm of the Government of Delhi. At present, it consists o ...

four times in a row during 1993–2008. His name features in the

Limca Book of Records The ''Limca Book of Records'' is an annual reference book published in India documenting world records held by Indians. The records are further categorized into education, literature, agriculture, medical science, business, sports, nature, advent ...

for winning 10 consecutive elections from the same constituency and the same party. He has also served on the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee and the

All India Congress Committee The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is the presidium or the central decision-making assembly of the Indian National Congress. It is composed of members elected from state-level Pradesh Congress Committees and can have as many as a thousan ...

Early life

Prem Singh was born into

Jatav Jatav, also known as Jatava/ Jatan/ Jatua/ Jatia, is an Indian social group that are considered to be a part of the Chamar caste, (now often termed Dalit), who are classified as a Scheduled Caste under modern India's system of positive discri ...

caste at Lado Sarai,

. His father, Chaudhary Himmat Singh was a Congress party worker and a participant in the

Indian Independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

. Prem Singh graduated in science from Delhi College (now Zakir Husain Delhi College) in 1952.

Political career

Prem Singh joined the Indian National Congress in 1952, at the insistence of his mentor C. Krishnan Nair (CK Nair), who was a senior Congress MP and known as the initial nominee to become the first CM of Delhi. In 1958, he became the youngest member of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the first chairman of its Committee on Delhi Rural Area. He was re-elected to MCD in 1962. He went on to serve on the Education and Works committees of MCD, and also served as the Deputy Chairman of the Zonal Committee. In 1967, Prem Singh was elected to the newly constituted Metropolitan Council of Delhi (predecessor of the Delhi Legislative Assembly). He was re-elected to the Metropolitan Council in 1972, 1977 and 1983. He served as an Executive Council member during the Fourth Metropolitan Council (1983–1990). Also in 1967, he was elected as a member of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC), the decision-making body of the Congress in Delhi. In 1969, he became a member of

, the central decision-making assembly of the party. He went on to win consecutive DPCC elections in 1972, 1977 and 1983. He served as the General Secretary of DPCC during 1969–1975, and as its president in 1977 and during 1988–1992. He was elected to the first Legislative Assembly of Delhi in 1993, and went on to win the next three elections in 1998, 2003 and 2008. He also served as the

speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of the second (1998–2003) and the third (2004–2008) Assemblies. In 2013, he lost the election to Aam Aadmi Party's Ashok Kumar, coming third.

Personal life

Prem Singh lived in the Lado Sarai area of

Mehrauli Mehrauli is a neighbourhood in South Delhi, a district of Delhi in India. It represents a constituency in the legislative assembly of Delhi. The area is close to Gurgaon and next to Vasant Kunj. History Mehrauli is one of the seven mediev ...

with his wife Shivkauri; the couple had 6 daughters and 2 sons. His son Pramod Choudhary (born 1971) was also elected to the MCD in 2007, but lost elections in 2012. His other son Yaduraj Chaudhary also dabbled in politics as a member of the Delhi Youth Congress.

Death

Prem Singh suffered a heart attack while participating in a party event on

B. R. Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served ...

's death anniversary (''Mahaparinirvan Divas'') on 6 December 2017. He was admitted to the Heart & Lung Institute but on 9 December 2017, he was shifted to Max Hospital (Saket), and died there on 12 December 2017 after having 4 more heart attacks.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Prem 1932 births 2017 deaths Indian National Congress politicians Members of the Delhi Legislative Assembly Speakers of the Delhi Legislative Assembly Delhi MLAs 2008–2013