Ajit Singh (politician, born 1939)

Ajit Singh
Singh in 2012
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 1999–2014
Preceded by	Sompal Shastri
Succeeded by	Satyapal Singh
In office 1989–1998
Preceded by	Chaudhary Charan Singh
Succeeded by	Sompal Shastri
Constituency	Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh
Minister of Civil Aviation
In office 18 December 2011 – 26 May 2014
Prime Minister	Manmohan Singh
Preceded by	Vayalar Ravi
Succeeded by	Ashok Gajapathi Raju
Union Minister of Agriculture
In office 22 July 2001 – 24 May 2003
Prime Minister	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Preceded by	Nitish Kumar
Succeeded by	Rajnath Singh
Cabinet Minister for Food Processing Industries
In office February 1995 – May 1996
Prime Minister	P. V. Narasimha Rao
Preceded by	Tarun Gogoi
Succeeded by	Dilip Ray
Minister of Commerce and Industry
In office 5 December 1989 – 10 November 1990
Prime Minister	V. P. Singh
Preceded by	Dinesh Singh
Succeeded by	Pranab Mukherjee
President of Janata Party
In office 1988–1990
Preceded by	Chandra Shekhar
Succeeded by	Subramanian Swamy
Personal details
Born	(1939-02-12)12 February 1939 Bhadola, United Provinces, British India
Died	6 May 2021(2021-05-06) (aged 82)[1] Gurugram, Haryana, India
Political party	Rashtriya Lok Dal
Other political affiliations	Indian National Congress Janata Dal Janata Party Lok Dal
Spouse	Radhika Singh (m. 1967)
Children	Jayant Chaudhary and two daughters
Parents	Charan Singh (father) Gayatri Devi (mother)
Alma mater	IIT Kharagpur Illinois Institute of Technology

Chaudhary Ajit Singh (12 February 1939 – 6 May 2021)^[2] was an Indian farmer leader and politician. He was the founder and chief of the Rashtriya Lok Dal, a political party recognised in the state of Uttar Pradesh. He was son of the former Prime Minister of India Chaudhary Charan Singh.^[3][4] He tested positive for COVID-19 and was subsequently admitted to a hospital in Gurugram.^[5] He died on 6 May 2021 after his condition deteriorated.^[6]

Chaudhary Ajit Singh was one of the most dynamic leaders of India, especially worked for farmers and on economic condition of India. When Chaudhary Ajit Singh was Commerce and Industry Minister in V. P. Singh's government, he drafted and tried to pass the bill against License Raj, which was unsuccessful since most of the parties were against it. When Chandra Shekhar Government fell, prime minister P.V Narasimha Rao and Finance Minister Manmohan Singh passed the same bill in the Parliament.^{[citation needed]} This bill was one of the major reforms of Indian history better known as the Liberalization reforms of India, which opened the country for the Global market.^[7]

Ajit Singh entered into politics in May 1986 by joining Lok Dal. He was made general secretary and a member of central parliamentary board of Lok Dal.^[8][9] Within months of joining politics, he removed Mulayam Singh Yadav from the position of Lok Dal legislature party leader in Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly.^[8]

Ajit Singh was first elected to Rajya Sabha (the upper house of Indian Parliament) in 1986 after his father and former prime minister Charan Singh became ill. He was the President of Lok Dal (A). In 1988, he merged Lok Dal (A) with Janata Party and became president of Janata Party.^[10] In 1989, he was General Secretary of Janata Dal after all the parties decided to merge under the leadership of VP Singh to take on the Indian National Congress. Ajit Singh brought in most political strength from Uttar Pradesh to VP Singh during that election.^[3] At several occasions, Ajit Singh was a significant political figure in government formations as well as in alliances. One of the important movements was when Ajit Singh even threatened to leave the P.V. Narsimharao government because Manmohan Singh, the Finance Minister of India wanted to put the Indian farmers to also pay income tax, of which Chaudhary believed will destroy the Indian Farmers.^{[citation needed]}

He was elected to Lok Sabha (the lower house of Indian Parliament) from Baghpat in 1989. He was Minister of Industry in V. P. Singh's cabinet from December 1989 to November 1990.^[3] He was re-elected to Lok Sabha in 1991 Indian general election. He served as Minister of Food in P. V. Narasimha Rao's cabinet.^[3]

Ajit Singh was re-elected in 1996 as a Congress candidate but resigned from the party and Lok Sabha in 1996. He then founded Bharatiya Kisan Kamgar Party and was re-elected in a Baghpat 1997 by-election.^[11][12] In 1999, he relaunched his party with the name Rashtriya Lok Dal.^[12][13] He lost the 1998 election and was re-elected in 1999, 2004 and 2009. From 2001 to 2003, he was Minister of Agriculture in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government.^[3] After his party joined the ruling United Progressive Alliance in 2011, he was Minister of Civil Aviation from December 2011 to May 2014.^[3] In 2019 Indian general election, He contested from Muzaffarnagar but lost to Sanjeev Balyan of BJP by a very small margin of 6526 votes.^[14][15]

He had a Bachelor of Technology (Mechanical Engineering) from IIT Kharagpur and an M.S. from Illinois Institute of Technology. He was a computer scientist by profession and one of the first Indians to work with IBM in the 1960s.^[3]

He was married to Radhika Singh, and had one son and two daughters.^[3] His son, Jayant Chaudhary, was a member of the 15th Lok Sabha from Mathura, Uttar Pradesh.

Singh tested positive for COVID-19 on 20 April 2021 and was admitted in a private hospital in Gurugram.^[16] He died on 6 May 2021 after developing COVID-19. At the time of death, he was 82 years old.^[2]

• Janata Dal (Ajit)

• Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website
• Ajit Singh History jatpedia