Former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh will be honoured with the prestigious Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of India, tweeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Singh has served as the fifth Prime Minister of India but interestingly he never faced the Parliament.
Here are some interesting facts about Chaudhary Charan Singh:
- Singh was born in 1902 at Noorpur in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh in a middle-class peasant family. He did his post-graduation at Agra University in 1925 and then trained in law, and later he set up practice in Ghaziabad.
- He was first elected to the UP Legislative Assembly in 1937 from Chhaprauli, and represented the constituency in 1946, 1952, 1962 and 1967.
- In June 1951, he was appointed Cabinet Minister in the state and given charge of the Departments of Justice and Information. Later, he took over as the Minister for Revenue and Agriculture in the Cabinet of Sampurnanand in 1952. When he resigned in April 1959, he was holding charge of the Department of Revenue and Transport.
- Charan Singh served as Minister for Agriculture and Forests (1962-63) in the Sucheta Kripalani's Ministry.
- He assumed charge of the Local Self-government department in 1966.
- After the Congress split, he became the Chief Minister of UP for the second time in February 1970 with the support of the Congress Party. However, President's Rule was imposed in the state on October 2, 1970.
PM Modi announces conferment of Bharat Ratna to Chaudhary Charan Singh
Taking to X, PM Modi wrote, "It is the good fortune of our government that former Prime Minister of the country Chaudhary Charan Singh is being honoured with Bharat Ratna. This honour is dedicated to his incomparable contribution to the country. He had dedicated his entire life to the rights and welfare of farmers. Be it the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh or the Home Minister of the country and even as an MLA, he always gave impetus to nation-building. He also stood firm against the Emergency. His dedication to our farmer brothers and sisters and his commitment to democracy during the Emergency is inspiring to the entire nation."
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