Charan Singh

But they shifted to Bulandshahr district of the present-day Uttar Pradesh after their downfall due to one of their prominent clansmen's opposition to the British during the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

Charan Singh entered politics as part of the Indian Independence Movement motivated by Mahatma Gandhi.

Charan Singh's ancestor was a prominent leader of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, Raja Nahar Singh of Ballabhgarh (in present-day Haryana).

Chaudhary Charan Singh (23 December 1902 – 29 May 1987) was an Indian politician and a freedom fighter.

He served as the 5th Prime Minister of India and 5th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.

Charan Singh followed Mahatma Gandhi in non-violent struggle for independence from the British Government, and was imprisoned several times.

Charan Singh was born on 23 December 1902 to Meer Singh and Netra Kaur in Nurpur village of Meerut district, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh.

His father was a small farmer belonging to the Tewatia clan of Jats.

His clansmen hail from the Haryana's Gurgaon district, where they were revenue collectors during the Mughal period.

In 1930, he was sent to jail for 12 years by the British for contravention of the salt laws.

He was active from 1931 in the Ghaziabad District Arya Samaj as well as the Meerut District Indian National Congress for which he was jailed twice by the British.

Before independence, as a member of Legislative Assembly of the United Provinces elected in 1937, he took a deep interest in the laws that were detrimental to the village economy and he slowly built his ideological and practical stand against the exploitation of tillers of the land by landlords.

He was jailed again for one year in November 1940 for individual Satyagraha movement.

In August 1942 he was jailed again by the British under DIR and released in November 1943.

He became particularly notable in Uttar Pradesh from the 1950s for drafting and ensuring the passage of what were then the most revolutionary land reform laws in any state in India under the tutelage of the then Chief Minister Govind Ballabh Pant; first as Parliamentary Secretary and then as Revenue Minister responsible for Land Reforms.

Between 1952 and 1968, he was one of "three principal leaders in Congress state politics."

He became visible on the national stage from 1959 when he publicly opposed the unquestioned leader and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's socialistic and collectivist land policies in the Nagpur Congress Session.

Though his position in the faction-ridden Uttar Pradesh Congress was weakened, this was a point when the middle peasant communities across castes in North India began looking up to him as their spokesperson and later as their unquestioned leader.

Singh stood for tight government spending, enforced consequences for corrupt officers, and advocated a "firm hand in dealing with the demands of government employees for increased wages and dearness allowances."

It is also worth noting that within the factional Uttar Pradesh Congress, his ability to articulate his clear policies and values made him stand out from his colleagues.

Following this period, Charan Singh defected from the Congress on 1 April 1967, joined the opposition party, and became the first non-Congress chief minister of UP.

This was a period when non-Congress governments were a strong force in India from 1967 to 1971.

As leader of the Bharatiya Lok Dal, a major constituent of the Janata coalition, he was disappointed in his ambition to become Prime Minister in 1977 by Jayaprakash Narayan's choice of Morarji Desai.

During 1977 Lok Sabha Elections, the fragmented opposition united a few months before the elections under the Janata Party banner, for which Chaudhary Charan Singh had been struggling almost single-handedly since 1974.

He served as the 5th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1970 before serving as the 5th Prime Minister of India between 28 July 1979 and 14 January 1980.

It was because of the efforts of Raj Narain that he became Prime Minister in the year 1979 though Raj Narain was Chairman of Janata Party-Secular and assured Charan Singh of elevating him as Prime Minister, the way he helped him to become Chief Minister in the year 1967 in Uttar Pradesh.

However, he resigned after just 23 days in office when Indira Gandhi's Congress Party withdrew support to the government.

Charan Singh said he resigned because he was not ready to be blackmailed into withdrawing Indira Gandhi's emergency-related court cases.

Fresh elections were held six months later.

Though a Congress member for most of his life, he later founded his own political party Lokdal in 1980.

Historians and people alike frequently refer to him as the "Champion of India's peasants".

He was awarded Bharat Ratna, highest civilian award of Republic of India, for his contributions to agriculture sector especially in Uttar Pradesh.

He is credited for bringing radical land reform measures and bringing uniformity in the farm sector.

One of his biggest achievements was bringing out farmers from the clutches of moneylenders, which reduced suicide rates in the community.

These reforms were implemented through the Debt Redemption Bill, the Land Holding Act, and the Zamindari Abolition Act.

His association with causes dear to farming communities in India caused his memorial in New Delhi to be named Kisan Ghat (in Hindi, Kisan is the word for farmer and Ghat is word for river bank).

His birthday on 23 December is celebrated as Kisan Diwas in India.

A commemorative postage stamp was issued by the government of India in remembrance of Charan Singh.

Lucknow International Airport is named after him, as a tribute to his legacy.

Charan Singh continued to lead the Lok Dal in opposition until his death in 1987.