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Giani Zail Singh
Giani Zail Singh was born on 5th May 1916. He was elected to be the seventh President of the country who served the President office from 1982 to 1987. Before he was elected as the President, he was involved with Indian National Congress (INC) Party.
During his tenure as the President of the country, he had to face Operation Blue Star - the project that was named for assassinating the Prime Minister of India Mrs Indira Gandhi and further faced the turmoil of anti-Sikh riots happened in 1984. He met with a severe car accident on 29th November 1994 close to Kiratpur Sahib in the district of Ropar while he was on his way to visit Anandpur Sahib and later, died succumbing to his injuries on December 25th 1994 and was cremated at the memorial of Raj Ghat.
Early Life
5th May 1916 is the birth date of Giani Zail Singh who was born in Sandhwan in Faridkot district. His father’s name was Kishan Singh and he belonged to Sikh religion. His name was preceded by Gyani that is generally given to the people who are intellectual about Guru Granth Sahib at the Shaheed Sikh Missionary College located in Amritsar. He could not pursue his secular qualifications.
Political Career
State Political Career
He started his Political career in 1947 after the country was reorganized. Later, he was asked to be the Minister of Revenue in the lately created Patiala and East Punjab States Unions in 1949 and further, he was elected to be the Agriculture Minister in 1951. He was selected as the member of Rajya Sabha for the duration of 1956 to 1962.
Tenure as Chief Minister of the state of Punjab
His tenure as the Chief Minister of Punjab was from 1972 to 1977. In 1972, he was selected to be the Chief Minister of Punjab from Indian Congress party. He organized huge religious congregations and always initiated these congregations with the customary Sikh prayers. He also named one of the highways in the name of Guru Gobind Singh and later, a township was also named after the son of the Guru. He also initiated Pension for freedom fighters belonging to the state of Punjab. He took the steps to get the remains of Shri Udham Singh from London and also, was behind bringing the armaments and many other belongings of Guru Gobind Singh.
Tenure in Central Government
In 1980, he became part of the 7th tenure of Lok Sabha, where he was selected to be the Minister of Home Affairs for the period when Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minster of the country.
President of India
In 1982, he was selected to be the President of the country. It was the talk of the country that he always followed the words said to him by Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India rather than being a reputed person. He issued a statement telling that even if he was asked to choose a broom and perform the job of sweeper, he would have done that happily since it was because of her that he became the President of the country. He issued this statement once he took the oath of the President on 25th July 1982.
It was seen that he was working on the commands of Indira Gandhi whereas the working protocol stated that Indira Gandhi held the responsibility of succinct Giani Zail Singh about the matters of the state since he was the President but it was seen to be otherwise. Just a day before the Operation Blue star was planned to be executed, Giani Zail Singh had a long meeting with Indira Gandhi but during the entire meeting she did not utter a word about this project. After the execution of the operation, he was pressurized by the Sikh community to resign from his position of the President though he did not resigned since he feared that this could further intensify the situation after Yogi Bhajan advised him from doing so. Later in 1984, Indira Gandhi was murdered and Rajiv Gandhi was appointed as the Prime Minister of the country by him.
Other Positions Held
1967–72 | Deputy Minister, Public Health, Prohibition, Tourism, Housing & Parliamentary Affairs, Government of Maharashtra |
1972–74 | Cabinet Minister, Social Welfare, Government of Maharashtra |
1974–75 | Cabinet Minister, Public Health & Social Welfare, Government of Maharashtra |
1975–76 | Cabinet Minister, Prohibition, Rehabilitation and Cultural Affairs, Government of Maharashtra |
1977–78 | Cabinet Minister, Education, Government of Maharashtra |
1979–1980 | Leader of the Opposition, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly |
1982–85 | Cabinet Minister, Urban Development and Housing, Government of Maharashtra |
1983–85 | Cabinet Minister, Civil Supplies and Social Welfare, Government of Maharashtra |
1986–1988 | Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha |
1986–88 | Chairman, Committee of Privileges, Rajya Sabha; Member, Business Advisory Committee, Rajya Sabha |
1991–1996 | Chairman, House Committee, Lok Sabha |
8 November 2004 – 23 June 2007 | Governor of Rajasthan |
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