Biography of Vishwanath Pratap Singh

(June 25, 1931)

Hailing from a ruling family of a small estate, Manda in Allahabad, Vishwanath Pratap Singh became India's Prime Minister in 1989. - However, prior to this, he served as the Minister of Commerce under Rajiv Gandhi and had initiated the policies of economic liberalization. He was born on June 25, 1931, and studied at Allahabad and Pune Universities.

In 1971, he was elected member of the Legislative Assembly, as a member of the Congress Party. He won the election to the Lok Sabha in 1971 and was appointed the Deputy Minister of Commerce in 1976. In 1981, he had to step down from the chief ministership due to the infamous Behmai Massacre. In 1986, he became the Defense Minister. But Singh resigned from Gandhi's cabinet during the Bofors scandal deal and later left the Congress (I) Party. He formed a coalition government on December 2, 1989. Singh became the leader of oppressed classes during his prime ministership as he introduced the Mandal Bill reserving seats for them on various governmental jobs.