Vishwanath Pratap Singh is no more

Former prime minister V P Singh, who was battling with myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow for many years and suffering from kidney failure, died on Thursday (Nov 27). He breathed his last at the Apollo hospital in New Delhi Thursday afternoon at the age of 77.

Expressing deep grief at the death of Singh, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said: “India has lost a great patriot and a builder of our nation whose empathy for the weaker sections would always be etched in our national consciousness.”

Born on June 25, 1931 in Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh), VP Singh started his political career at local level, soon made his name popular in the state Congress party for his unfailing rectitude, rose step by step, and eventually reached to the coveted post of prime minister.

After quitting Congress on the issue of Bofors scandal, he formed Jan Morcha. And on October 11, 1988 Janata Dal was formed with the merger of Jan Morcha, Janata Party, Lok Dal, and Congress (S). VP Singh was elected the President of Janata Dal.

Later under the banner National Front, which included Janata Dal with various regional parties including the DMK, TDP, and AGP, he fought the 1989 Lok Sabha poll and won a clear majority with an electoral understanding with Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) and the Left.

However, the Communist and the BJP refused to form the government and prefer to support it from outside. V P Singh, the Janata Dal leader and the then convenor of National Front, was unanimously elected by the coalition parties for the post of prime minister.

He held office for slightly less than a year (Dec 2, 1989 to Nov 10, 1990) but within a short tenure he remarkably worked for the oppressed people. He was very concerned about the downtrodden class and strived hard for the upliftment of SC/STs and other backward classes of the country and implemented Mandal Commission recommendations.

The recommendations had though met with adverse reactions by the forward classes and resulted into the widespread protests among the youth in urban areas in North India.

The BJP, which had provided outside-support to the government, backed off their support that led to the fall of the government. Chandrashekhar, who left Janata Dal to form the Samajwadi Janata Party gained outside support of Congress party and became the 11th prime minister of India, again for a short term from Nov 10, 1990 – June 21, 1991.

Earlier, VP Singh was appointed as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1980 by Indira Gandhi. During his tenure he cracked down on dacoits.

As Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and later as Finance Minister and Prime Minister of India, he consistently strove to translate his convictions into public policy. Even after being afflicted with a debilitating disease, he continued to be at the forefront of the struggle for social justice. He was also an active participant in Vinoba Bhave’s ‘Bhoodan movement’ in 1957 and that certainly had deep impact on him.