Arjun Singh (5 November 1930 – 4 March 2011) was an Indian politician from the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

, who served twice as the

Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh The chief minister of Madhya Pradesh is the head of government, chief executive of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the Governors of states of India, governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ' ...

in the 1980s. He also served twice as the Union

Minister of Human Resource Development The Minister of EducationMinistry of Education – Official Website
Government of India. ...

, in the

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (26 September 1932 – 26 December 2024) was an Indian economist, bureaucrat, academician, and statesman, who served as the prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jaw ...

and

P. V. Narasimha Rao Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao (28 June 1921 – 23 December 2004) was an Indian independence activist, lawyer, and statesman from the Indian National Congress who served as the prime minister of India from 1991 to 1996. He was the first p ...

ministries. The surrender of

dacoit Dacoity is a term used for "banditry" in the Indian subcontinent. The spelling is the anglicised version of the Hindi word डाकू (ḍākū); "dacoit" is a colloquial Indian English word with the meaning "a robber belonging to an armed ...

Phoolan Devi in 1983 was a significant event during his tenure as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, reflecting efforts by his government to restore law and order, particularly in the Chambal region, while also dealing with the underlying socio-economic issues. He is widely remembered for introducing 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes in educational institutions including

All India Institute of Medical Sciences The All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is a group of autonomous government public medical universities of higher education under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. These institutes ha ...

(AIIMS),

Indian Institutes of Technology The Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) are a network of engineering and technology institutions in India. Established in 1950, they are under the purview of the Ministry of Education of the Indian Government and are governed by the Inst ...

(IITs),

National Institutes of Technology The National Institutes of Technology (NITs) are centrally funded technical institutes under the ownership of the Ministry of Education, Government of India. They are governed by the National Institutes of Technology, Science Education, and ...

(NITs),

Indian Institutes of Management The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are Centrally Funded Business Schools for management offering undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral and executive programmes along with some additional courses in the field of business administra ...

(IIMs),

Indian Institute of Science The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a Public university, public, Deemed university, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The ...

(IISc), with the passage of Ninety-third Constitutional Amendment and Central Educational Institutions(CEIs) (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006. This led to anti-reservation protests against this act. The protests ended after

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...

upheld the reservations in higher education.

Early life

Arjun Singh was born on 5 November 1930 into a

Rajput Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

family as the son of Shiv Bahadur Singh, a jagirdar and the 26th Rao of Churhat thikana, and an INC politician. He received his

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from Rewa Darbar College, where he was the student union president in 1953.

Career

Arjun Singh was first elected to the

Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly The Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha or the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly is the unicameral state legislature of Madhya Pradesh state in India. The seat of the Vidhan Sabha is at Bhopal, the capital of the state. It is housed in the ''Vidh ...

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

from Majholi 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 Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

candidate. He joined the

in 1960. He was re-elected from Majholi in

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

and became a minister in the INC government of Dwarka Prasad Mishra. In

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

, he lost the election from Churhat due to a fallout with the then chief minister Dwarka Prasad Mishra. However, he won a bypoll in the same year from Umaria. He was elected from Sidhi in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

and became a minister in the INC government of

Prakash Chandra Sethi Prakash Chandra Sethi (19 October 1919 – 21 February 1996) was an Indian National Congress politician who served as Minister of Home Affairs (1982–84) and as the 8th Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh (1972–75). He was twice the chief ...

. In

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

, he was elected from Churhat and became the Leader of Opposition in the

. In

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

, when INC achieved a simple majority in the assembly, he won from Churhat and became 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 ter ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

, despite the presence of strong contenders such as Sethi,

Vidya Charan Shukla Vidya Charan Shukla (2 August 1929 – 11 June 2013) was an Indian politician whose political career spanned six decades. He was predominantly a member of the Indian National Congress, but also had spells in Jan Morcha, Janata Dal, Samajw ...

and Shiv Bhanu Singh Solanki. As chief minister, Singh implemented several populist initiatives, including the regularisation of slums and providing free electricity connections to residents. During his time in office, the

Phoolan Devi surrendered. His five-year tenure was also notably marked by the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. He led the INC to victory in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

, yet again winning from Churhat, but was forced to resign as Chief Minister after just one day due to differences with Sriniwas Tiwari. Motilal Vora succeeded him as Chief Minister. He resigned his Madhya Pradesh assembly seat and was appointed Governor of Punjab in 1985. He worked for the implementation of the Rajiv-Longowal Accord for peace in

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

. However, after eight months, he resigned as Governor and became

Minister of Commerce A Commerce minister (sometimes business minister, industry minister, trade minister or international trade minister) is a position in many governments that is responsible for regulating external trade and promoting economic growth (commercial poli ...

in the

Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian statesman and pilot who served as the prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the Assassination of Indira Gandhi, assassination of his mother, then–prime ...

cabinet. He was elected to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

from

South Delhi South Delhi is an administrative district of the National Capital Territory of Delhi in India with its headquarters in Saket. Administratively, the district is divided into three subdivisions, Saket, Hauz Khas, and Mehrauli. It is bounded by ...

in a bypoll in 1985, necessitated by the assassination of the sitting MP Lalit Maken. He was appointed First Vice-President of

by Rajiv Gandhi. In 1986, he resigned the Commerce ministry and was appointed Minister of Communications. He held this post till 1988 when he returned to the

Government of Madhya Pradesh The Government of Madhya Pradesh (abbreviated as MP) or Madhya Pradesh Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and its 55 districts. It consists of an executive, led by the governor of Madhya Prade ...

and again became Chief Minister of the state. He resigned his

seat and won a bypoll to the

from Kharsia in 1988. However, he resigned as Chief Minister in 1989 owing to the Churhat lottery scam, and was succeeded by Motilal Vora. He won in

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

from Churhat. In

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, he won from

Satna Satna is a city in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of Satna district. It is 7th largest city and List of cities in Madhya Pradesh by population, 8th most populous city of the s ...

. He resigned his assembly seat and harboured ambitions of becoming

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

after the assassination of

. However,

became Prime Minister and Singh was appointed the

Minister of Human Resource Development The Minister of EducationMinistry of Education – Official Website
Government of India. ...

. He publicly expressed discontent with the Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao after the Babri Masjid demolition. He resigned as

Minister of Human Resource Development The Minister of EducationMinistry of Education – Official Website
Government of India. ...

in 1994. In 1996, he rebelled against the INC leadership and formed the

All India Indira Congress (Tiwari) The All India Indira Congress (Tiwari) was a political party in India set up by dissident Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in Ind ...

along with Narayan Dutt Tiwari. However, he lost in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

from

. Later, he returned to INC after the emergence of

Sonia Gandhi Sonia Gandhi (, ; ; born 9 December 1946) is an Indian politician. She is the longest-serving president of the Indian National Congress, a big-tent liberal political party, which has governed India for most of its post-independence history. ...

. He lost in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

from

Hoshangabad Hoshangabad (Hindi: ), officially Narmadapuram (), is a city in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Hoshangabad district and Narmadapuram division. It is located in central ...

. He was elected to the

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

in 2000 from

and was re-elected in 2006. He was awarded the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award in 2000. He served as

Minister of Human Resource Development The Minister of EducationMinistry of Education – Official Website
Government of India. ...

from 2004 to 2009 in the

cabinet.

Social Justice

Reservation for Other Backward Class (OBCs) in educational institutions

Arjun Singh had immense contributions for social justice in India. He is credited with implementing reservations for Other Backward Classes in higher educational institutions. After the State Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Assam and West Bengal, Arjun Singh promised to reserve 27% seats for Other Backward Classes in All India Institutes of Medical Sciences, Indian Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Management, and other central universities. The Ninety-third Constitutional Amendment, that was introduced by the

First Manmohan Singh ministry The First Manmohan Singh ministry was the first Union Council of Ministers of India under the Prime Ministership of Manmohan Singh. It was formed after the 2004 Indian general election held in four phases during 20 April 10 May 2004, to elect ...

, granted a 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes in all Central Government educational institutions. The 93rd Amendment Act of 2005 to the Indian Constitution added clause (5) in Article 15 which enables the government to make any special provision for the development of any socially and educationally backward classes of people, or scheduled castes or scheduled tribes, with regard to their enrolment in educational institutions, which would include private educational institutions, whether aided or unaided by the government, but apart from minority educational institutions. After the 93rd Amendment Act, the Central Educational Institutions(CEIs) (Reservation in Admission) Act, was enacted by the Union Parliament in the year 2006. This led to widespread anti-reservation protests where students engaged in street protests across India. Later on, students took legal action against the Act by filing

Public Interest Litigation The chief instrument through which judicial activism has flourished in India is public interest litigation (PIL) or social action litigation (SAL). It refers to litigation undertaken to secure public interest and demonstrates the availability ...

, claiming that it violated the Basic Structure of the Constitution of India. In March 2007, the

granted an injunction to suspension of OBC reservations. In April 2008, a 5-member constitutional bench of the Supreme Court, in the Ashoka Kumar Thakur v. Union of India case, upheld the Ninety-third Constitutional Amendment, and reinstated the Act in a judgement delivered by Chief Justice India K. G. Balakrishnan, with Justices Arijit Pasayat, C K Thakker, R V Raveendran and

Dalveer Bhandari Dalveer Bhandari (born 1 October 1947) is an Indian jurist. He is currently one of the judges of the International Court of Justice. He is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India and former chief justice of the Bombay High Court, he was als ...

. OBC reservations were implemented in all central universities and institutions, but the government was required to exclude the

creamy layer Creamy layer is a term used in reservation system of India to refer to some members of a backward class who are highly advanced socially as well as economically and educationally. They constitute the forward section of that particular backw ...

from the OBC, but not SC/ST.

Controversies

Bhopal Incident

Arjun Singh was the Chief Minister of

when the deadly gas leak from the

Union Carbide Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) is an American chemical company headquartered in Seadrift, Texas. It has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical Company since 2001. Union Carbide produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more f ...

factory occurred. It is widely alleged that on the fateful night between 2 and 3 December 1984, when the gas leak occurred, Arjun Singh fled to his Kerwa Dam Palace (outside

Bhopal Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes,'' due to ...

) to save himself from deadly effects of leaked gas and was not available to manage the crisis or lead the administration. Subsequently, the Arjun Singh government's mishandling was criticised by the court in the verdict on the Bhopal disaster as pronounced by the Chief Judicial Magistrate,

on 7 June 2010. The media raised serious questions about his role in the release of Warren Anderson. In particular, the pilot of the aircraft in which Warren Anderson flew out of India after the gas leak, has recorded that the final sanction to permit the flight came from Arjun Singh's office.

Churhat Lottery case and Kerwa Dam palace

While Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Singh was involved in the scandal known as the Churhat Lottery case. The Churhat Children Welfare Society was floated in 1982 by relatives of Singh, and permitted to raise funds via lottery, and also given tax relief as a charity. However, there were widespread allegations that substantial sums of money were siphoned off from donations and used to construct the lavish Kerwa Dam Palace near Bhopal. The donations to the society included a Rs 150,000 donation from

, whose chief Warren Anderson was permitted to leave the country after the gas leak, allegedly by Arjun Singh's office. At a public litigation hearing, the Madhya Pradesh High Court observed that "Arjun Singh owed an explanation to the nation about the costs and sources of construction of the palatial mansion in Bhopal". While Singh had claimed the value of the palace was Rs 1.8 million, the IT Department estimated the cost at above Rs one

crore Crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes the quantity ten million (107) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. In many international contexts, the decimal quantity is formatted as 10,000,000, but when used in the context of the India ...

. However, a one-judge commission investigating the scandal gave a clean chit to Arjun Singh. The case was re-opened however, after the Jain Hawala case, and Singh was asked to submit fresh re-estimates of the palace cost. In court, the case was argued by

Kapil Sibal Kapil Sibal (born 8 August 1948) is an Indian lawyer and politician. A designated Senior Advocate, he is currently the President of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA). He has represented several high-profile cases in the Supreme Court of In ...

and the order for re-examination was squashed on the grounds that it had been issued in a haste and "had not applied his mind".

Other controversies

After the Mumbai train bombings of 2006, he reportedly quoted at a Cabinet meeting the statements of a former judge of the Maharashtra High Court that an earlier attempt on the headquarters of the Hindu revivalist

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindutva, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( ...

Nagpur Nagpur (; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Nāgapura'') is the second capital and third-largest city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is called the heart of India because of its central geographical location. It is the largest and most populated city i ...

had been a plot set into motion by the Sangh itself. This followed his denouncement of the Ekal Vidyalayas, one-teacher schools run for the benefit of the tribals of India by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, as communal. A case under the Anti-Dowry Act was registered against Arjun Singh in 2007. The then

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

government had decided to seek CBI inquiry into dowry harassment case. Arjun Singh was accused of irregularities and corruption in the grant of "Deemed University" status to private for-profit educational institutions which did not meet requisite educational standards, during his tenure as Minister for Human Resources Development. The Government of India initiated proceedings to repeal the "Deemed University" status of 44 such institutions in January 2010.

Death

Singh died on 4 March 2011, at the age of 80. He had been admitted in

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, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

with chest pain and neurological problems, and died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

. He was cremated at his home town of Churhat.

Family

Arjun Singh's son Ajay Singh aka Rahul Bhaiya is an INC politician and former Leader of Opposition in the

. His grandson is Arunoday Singh, a Bollywood actor. Another grandson of his,

Yuvaraja Yuvaraja (), also rendered Yuvraj, is an Indian title for the crown prince, and the heir apparent to the throne of an Indian (notably Hindu) kingdom, empire or (notably in the Mughal Empire or Indian Empire) princely state. It is usually applie ...

Aishwarya Singh of Singrauli is married to Devyani Rana, great-granddaughter of Mohan Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana, the last Shree Teen Maharaja of Nepal. Devyani’s father-

His Highness Highness (abbreviation HH, oral address Your Highness) is a formal style (manner of address), style used to address (in grammatical person, second person) or refer to (in grammatical person, third person) certain members of a reigning or formerly ...

Shree Teen

Maharaja Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent, Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and Medieval India, medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a pri ...

Pashupati Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana is the titular Shree Teen Maharaja of Nepal.

Positions held

* 1957 - 1985

Member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

* 1963 - 1967 Minister of State for Agriculture, General Administration Department (GAD) and Information & Public Relations,

* 1967 - Minister of Planning and Development,

* 1972 - 1977 Minister of Education,

* 1977 - 1980 Leader of Opposition,

* 1980 - 1985

* 1985 - 1985 Governor of Punjab * 1985 - 1988 Member of Parliament,

* 1985 - 1986

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

* 1986 - 1988 Minister of Communications,

* 1988 - 1991

* 1988 - 1989

* 1991 - 1996 Member of Parliament,

* 1991 - 1994

Minister of Human Resource Development The Minister of EducationMinistry of Education – Official Website
Government of India. ...

* 2000 - 2011 Member of Parliament,

* 2000 - 2004 Member, Consultative Committee for the

Ministry of Home Affairs An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the i ...

* 2001 - 2004 Member, Committee on Rules * 2002 - 2004 Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Purposes Committee * 2004 - 2009

Minister of Human Resource Development The Minister of EducationMinistry of Education – Official Website
Government of India. ...

Elections contested

- Won from Majholi (

IND Ind or IND may refer to: General * Independent (politician), a politician not affiliated to any political party * Independent station, used within television program listings and the television industry for a station that is not affiliated with ...

) *

- Won from Majholi ( INC) *

- Lost from Churhat ( INC) * 1967 - Won

bypoll from Umaria ( INC) *

- Won from Sidhi ( INC) *

- Won from Churhat ( INC) *

- Won from Churhat ( INC) * 1985 - Won

bypoll from

(

) * 1988 - Won

bypoll from Kharsia ( INC) *

- Won from Churhat ( INC) *

- Won from

( INC) *

- Lost from

( AIICT) *

- Lost from

( INC) * 2000 - Won

election from

( INC) * 2006 - Won

election from

( INC)"Arjun, Bhardwaj, Shinde elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha"
, Tribuneindia.com, 20 March 2006.

References

External links

Early life

Career

Social Justice

Reservation for Other Backward Class (OBCs) in educational institutions

Controversies

Bhopal Incident

Churhat Lottery case and Kerwa Dam palace

Other controversies

Death

Family

Positions held

Elections contested

See also

References

External links