Charan Singh

Charan Singh (born Dec. 23, 1902, Noorpur, Uttar Pradesh, India—died May 29, 1987, New Delhi) was an Indian politician who served briefly as prime minister (1979–80) and was known for his land and agricultural reform initiatives.

Singh became a lawyer and in 1929 joined the Indian National Congress movement. He was jailed several times in the struggle for Indian independence. He served in the United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh) state assembly from 1937 on and was chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1967–68 and 1970. In 1977 he allied his peasant- and agricultural-based Indian Revolutionary Party with the Janata Party of Morarji Desai and subsequently served as minister of home affairs (1977–78) and deputy prime minister (1979) in Desai’s coalition government. Factional quarreling broke apart the Janata coalition in 1979, and in July of that year Singh became prime minister with the support of his former political enemy, Indira Gandhi, who had imprisoned him during the state of emergency of 1975–77. Within a month Gandhi withdrew her support from Singh, who thenceforth headed a caretaker government until Gandhi was returned to power in the elections of January 1980. Singh never again held high office.

On February 9, 2024, President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the prestigious Bharat Ratna award will be conferred on Chaudhuri Charan Singh posthumously. In his announcement, Prime Minister Modi praised Singh’s dedication to the cause of farmers and his commitment to democracy.