Raj Narain (23 November 1917 – 31 December 1986) was an Indian freedom fighter and politician. He won in a famous electoral malpractice case against the then Prime Minister

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 ...

, which led to her disqualification and imposition of Emergency in India in 1975. He defeated Indira Gandhi during the 1977 Lok Sabha elections.

Early life

Raj Narain was the son of Anant Prasad Singh and was born on 23 November 1917 in an affluent

Bhumihar Brahmin Bhumihars, also called Babhan, are a Hindu caste mainly found in Bihar (including the Mithila region), the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, and Nepal. The Bhumihars claim Brahmin statu ...

also known as

Babhan Bhumihars, also called Babhan, are a Hindu caste mainly found in Bihar (including the Mithila region), the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, and Nepal. The Bhumihars claim Brahmin statu ...

family in the village Motikoat in

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

. He was related to the

Narayan dynasty The Narayan dynasty was the ruling family of Benares. After its liberation from Awadh, independence ( s''waraj'') was established in Benares by Maharaja Balwant Narayan Singh in the 18th century. Since then, the family has ruled Benares. In 1911, ...

, who were the royal family of the

Benares State Benares or Banaras State was a kingdom and later princely state in what is today Uttar Pradesh, India. On 15 October 1948, Benares' last ruler signed the accession to the Indian Union. The state was founded by the local zamindar, Raja Bal ...

, and he was directly associated with the family of Maharaja Chet Singh and Maharaja Balwant Singh, who were the Maharajas of Benares State, over a century back. He was educated at

Banaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU) IAST: kāśī hindū viśvavidyālaya IPA: /kaːʃiː hɪnd̪uː ʋɪʃwəʋid̪jaːləj/), is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916 ...

, and did M.A. and LL.B.

Activities during India's Freedom Movement

A Political and Social worker he organized a school for adults, a girls school, a study centre and a labour organization and became member of Congress Socialist Party, in 1934, and National Committee of Students Federation, 1939–44. He was President of the Banaras University Mandal Congress Committee and Member of District Congress Committee (D.C.C.). He was president of Student Congress during 1942

Quit India The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule i ...

movement, and led protests in and around Varanasi district in UP. Initially he was "underground" for three months and later arrested on 28 September 1942, during Quit India Movement and detained till 1945.

Career after Independence

He was imprisoned 58 times for a period totaling about 15 years in connection with students' and socialist movements. When India became independent, Raj Narain joined

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

led by Acharya

Narendra Deva Acharya Narendra Deva (; also Dev; 30 October 1889 – 19 February 1956) was one of the leading theorists of the Congress Socialist Party in India. His democratic socialism renounced violent means as a matter of principle and embraced the ''sat ...

Jayprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), popularly referred to as JP or ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader. He is remembered for le ...

and Dr

Rammanohar Lohia Ram Manohar Lohia ; (23 March 1910 – 12 October 1967) was an activist in the Indian independence movement and a socialist political leader. During the last phase of British rule in India, he worked with the Congress Radio which was broadcast s ...

and held many party positions including Secretary of UP Socialist Party, 1948–51. He was very close to his Guru

Acharya Narendra Deva Acharya Narendra Deva (; also Dev; 30 October 1889 – 19 February 1956) was one of the leading theorists of the Congress Socialist Party in India. His democratic socialism renounced violent means as a matter of principle and embraced the ''sat ...

and Dr.

. Dr. Lohia described him as "a person who has the heart of a Lion and practices of Gandhi". Dr. Lohia admired him a lot and even said that "if in India there could be just three or four persons like him, dictatorship can never shadow the democracy". He was elected to the

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly (Hindi: ''Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha'') is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of Uttar Pradesh. There are 403 seats in the house filled by direct election using a single-member first-past-the-p ...

in 1952 and was Leader of Opposition in the Assembly until 1962. The parties he was affiliated with included CSP (1934–48),

(1948–52),

Praja Socialist Party The Praja Socialist Party, abbreviated as PSP, was an Indian political party. It was founded when the Socialist Party, led by Jayaprakash Narayan, Rambriksh Benipuri, Acharya Narendra Deva and Basawon Singh (Sinha), merged with the Kisan Mazdoo ...

(1952–1955),

(1956–64),

Samyukta Socialist Party Samyukta Socialist Party (; SSP), was a political party in India from 1964 to 1972. SSP was formed through a split in the Praja Socialist Party (PSP) in 1964. In 1972, SSP was reunited with PSP, forming the Socialist Party. The General Secret ...

(1964–72),

(1971–72), Socialist Party (Lohia) (1972–74), Bhartiya Lok Dal, (1974–77),

Janata Party The Janata Party ( JP, lit. ''People's Party'') was a political party that was founded as an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the Emergency that was imposed between 1975 and 1977 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of the Indian Nati ...

(1977–79),

Janata Party (Secular) The Janata Party (Secular) was an Indian political party founded by Raj Narain in July, 1979. On 16 July 1979, Charan Singh assumed its leadership and became the Prime Minister of India on 28 July 1979 with the support of the Indian National C ...

(1979–80), Democratic Socialist Party (1981–83),

(1983–84), and

from 1984 till his death, in 1986. Party positions he held included, Member National Executive, PSP, 1954–55, Chairman, Socialist Party, 1961–64. He was also a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1966–72 and 1974–77. Raj Narain opposed policies and practices of Prime Minister

and stood (against her) in 1971

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 ...

elections from Rai Bareli as an

Candidate. Although he suffered a defeat from her in 1971 elections, he accused

of corrupt electoral practices and filed an election petition against her. Radj Narain, Bestanddeelnr 929-0812 (cropped)

The Allahabad High Court on 12 June 1975 upheld the accusations and set aside the election of

and also disqualified her to contest Lok Sabha election for next 6 years, which led to the imposition of Emergency in India. Nationwide protest started and the streets were flooded with people under the leadership of Loknayak

Jai Prakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), popularly referred to as JP or ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader. He is remembered for le ...

and Raj Narain. This was biggest drama of Indian politics after independence, with Raj Narain as one of the main protagonists. Known as biggest critique and adversary of

, upon imposition of

Emergency An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...

, Raj Narain was immediately arrested and imprisoned on the same day, along with several leading opposition leaders including

Morarji Desai Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (29 February 1896 – 10 April 1995) was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the 4th Prime Minister of India between 1977 to 1979 leading the government formed by the Janata Party. During his ...

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 ...

Charan Singh Chaudhary Charan Singh (23 December 1902 – 29 May 1987) served as the 5th Prime Minister of India between 28 July 1979 to 14 January 1980. Historians and people alike frequently refer to him as the 'champion of India's peasants.' Charan S ...

L. K. Advani Lal Krishna Advani (born 8 November 1927) is an Indian politician who served as the 7th Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004. Advani is one of the co-founders and a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is a longtime memb ...

and

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 ...

without any advance notice and confined mostly in undisclosed locations. Mrs. Gandhi lifted the state of emergency in January 1977, dissolved

and arranged fresh elections to the body. Narain joined with other opposition parties to form the Janata alliance to face Mrs. Gandhi's Congress party. Narain once again stood against her from the

Rae Bareli Raebareli is a city in Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Raebareli district and a part of Lucknow Division. The city is situated on the banks of the Sai river, southeast of Lucknow. It possesses many a ...

constituency. He defeated her with a margin of more than fifty thousand votes. The Janata alliance also swept the election throughout

North India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...

to form the majority in the parliament (Lok Sabha). Narain reluctantly joined the

government and became Minister of Health and Family Welfare. Narain's stint as minister lasted just over a year when he and

were asked to resign for criticizing the Janata government. Later on, he demanded that

members with ties to the

Hindu Nationalist Hindu nationalism has been collectively referred to as the expression of social and political thought, based on the native spiritual and cultural traditions of the Indian subcontinent. "Hindu nationalism" or the correct term ''Hindū rāṣṭ ...

RSS RSS ( RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is a web feed that allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. Subscribing to RSS feeds can allow a user to keep track of many di ...

renounce those ties to avoid split loyalties. When this was ignored, he resigned from the party to float a new outfit called

. He was able to attract enough defectors from the former socialist and BLD factions to make the

government lose a vote of confidence in the parliament and lose power. Raj Narain's performance in the 1977-1979 Janata period has been described as that of buffoon, practitioner of Guerilla theater, and as a stalking horse for Charan Singh. Raj Narain had earlier called himself

Hanuman Hanuman (; sa, हनुमान, ), also called Anjaneya (), is a Hindu god and a divine '' vanara'' companion of the god Rama. Hanuman is one of the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is an ardent devotee of Rama and on ...

to Charan Singh's

Ram Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to: Animals * A male sheep * Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish People * Ram (given name) * Ram (surname) * Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director * RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch * ...

. He lost the 1980 Lok Sabha election to

Kamlapati Tripathi Kamalapati Tripathi (3 September 1905 – 8 October 1990) was an Indian politician, writer, journalist, and freedom fighter. He was a senior Indian National Congress leader from Varanasi constituency. He served as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh as ...

. Later he fell out with his mentor

, and Raj Narain stood against Singh in the

Baghpat Baghpat is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Bagpat district, which was established in 1997. It is part of the National Capital Region. Etymology The original name of the city was ''Vyaghrap ...

constituency in 1984. At this time, in his opinion, his Ram turned in to a

Ravan Ravana (; , , ) is a rakshasa king of the island of Lanka, and the chief antagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana'' and its adaptations. In the ''Ramayana'', Ravana is described to be the eldest son of sage Vishrava and Rakshasa, rakshasi Kaik ...

and had to be destroyed.

Electoral history

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

: Lost 1971 Lok Sabha election to Indira Gandhi from

* 1977 : Defeated Indira Gandhi in

* 1980 : Lost to Kamlapati Tripathi from Varanasi seat * 1984 : Lost to Charan Singh from Baghpat seat. Congress was second in this seat.

Political associations

Congress Socialist Party The Congress Socialist Party (CSP) was a socialist caucus within the Indian National Congress. It was founded in 1934 by Congress members who rejected what they saw as the anti-rational mysticism of Gandhi as well as the sectarian attitude of th ...

(CSP), 1934–48. Inspector of Congress Socialist Party, 1946. District Secretary, Congress Socialist Party (SP), 1946. *Member

(SP), 1948–52. Secretary, Uttar Pradesh Socialist Party (SP), 1948–51. Convener, ‘Janvani Diwas’ of Socialist Party in Delhi, on 9 June 1951. *Member

(PSP), 1952–1955. Member National Executive, PSP, 1954–55. *Member, Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly and First Leader of Opposition, 1952–1962. *Member Socialist Party, 1956–64. (From 1 January 1956 to 9 June 1964) Chairman, Socialist Party, 1961–64. Joined Samyukta Socialist Party (SSP) after the merger of PSP and SP. *Member Samyukta Socialist Party (SSP), 1964–72. (9 June 1964 to 12, April 1972) General Secretary

(SSP), 1964–66. *Member

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 ...

, 1966–72. (For SSP) *Member Socialist Party, 1971–72. (After the merger of PSP & SSP) Revived Socialist Party (Lohia), in 1972 and was its Member, 1972–74. Merged SSP (Lohia) into BKD in 1974 and formed Bhartiya Lok Dal *Member Bhartiya Lok Dal (BLD), 1974–77 *Member

, 1974–77 (As BLD Candidate) Formed

in 1977 after the merger of BLD, Bhartiya Jana sangh, Congress (O), Socialist Party and Congress for Democracy (CFD) *Member Janata Party, 1977–79, *Member 6th

, 1977–79. (Defeated Indira Gandhi in 1977) *Member Union Cabinet as Health & Family Welfare Minister. (1977–78), removed from Union Cabinet in January 1979 and later on resigned from Janata Party in 1979. *Formed Janata Party (S) as its President and later as Chairman *Joined Democratic Socialist Party, 1981–83 (With H. N. Bahuguna). *Joined Janata Party, 1983–84. With

Chandra Shekhar Chandra Shekhar ( 17 April 1927 – 9 August 2015) was an Indian politician who served as the 8th Prime Minister of India, between 10 November 1990 and 21 June 1991. He headed a minority government of a breakaway faction of the Janata Dal with ...

. Contested against former Prime Minister Charan Singh, in 1984 Lok Sabha elections from

(U.P.). Formed Socialist Party in 1985, and was associated with this party till his death in 1986.

Personal life

Raj Narain was married and had three sons and one daughter. Raj Narain published ‘Janmukh’-a weekly from

and has been on the editorial board of ‘Jan’ a monthly established by Dr Rammanohar Lohia.

Legacy

*A commemorative stamp was released on him by the former Vice President of India,

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 Kan ...

on 23 March 2007. *In 2012, the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh,

Akhilesh Yadav Akhilesh is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Akhilesh Das (1961–2017), educationist, professor, Indian politician and philanthropist * Akhilesh K. Gaharwar (born 1982), Indian academic and Professor at Texas A&M University * ...

unveiled a statue in his memory at Chandrabhanu Gupta Agriculture college which is close to the state capital

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

Books

* ''Towards a new health policy'', by Raj Narain. 1977-8 pages. POPLINE Document Number: 783545. Author: NARAIN R. Source citation: New Delhi, India, Department of Family Welfare, www.popline.org/ docs/ 0299/ 783545.html. * Raj Narain's Health policy mentioned in ''Practicing health for all'', by David Morley, Jon E. Rohde, Glen Williams. Oxford University Press, 1983 – Medical – 333 pages. * Raj Narain's Health policy mentioned in ''India: health care patterns and planning'', by Rais Akhtar. 2004-343 pages. On page no.45 Raj Narain, were ideologically inclined towards de-professionalization, decentralization, and indigenous systems of medicine. The Janata party manifesto mentioned community health workers, and Raj Narain adopted it as a personal commitment (Leslie, 1985).

Footnotes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Narain, Raj Janata Party politicians The Emergency (India) Desai administration People from Varanasi district 1917 births 1986 deaths India MPs 1977–1979 Uttar Pradesh MLAs 1952–1957 Uttar Pradesh MLAs 1957–1962 Rajya Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh Indian socialists Indians imprisoned during the Emergency (India) Prisoners and detainees of British India Indian independence activists from Uttar Pradesh Leaders of the Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly Politicians from Varanasi Health ministers of India Lok Dal politicians Bharatiya Lok Dal politicians Samyukta Socialist Party politicians Janata Party (Secular) politicians