Bio

Sardar Darbara Singh (1916–1990), born into the prosperous Jat zamindar

Zamindar

A Zamindar or zemindar , was an aristocrat, typically hereditary, who held enormous tracts of land and ruled over and taxed the bhikaaris who lived on batavaslam. Over time, they took princely and royal titles such as Maharaja , Raja , Nawab , and Mirza , Chowdhury , among others...

 family of Sardar Dalip Singh Johal in Jandiala, in the Jullundur district of Punjab. He was educated at Khalsa College, Amritsar

Khalsa College, Amritsar

Khalsa College is a historic educational institution in the northern Indian city of Amritsar in the state of Punjab, India. Founded in 1892, the sprawling campus is located about eight km outside of the city center on the Amritsar-Lahore highway , adjoining Guru Nanak Dev University campus, to...

 and became involved with the freedom movement under the aegis of Indian National Congress, being imprisoned by the British authorities between 1942 to 1945 and again in 1946.
In the aftermath of the partition of the country, he was involved in the creation of refugee camps for the displaced people. He started his political career as President of the Jullundur Congress Party (1946–1950) and went on to serve as General Secretary, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC, 1953–56) and subsequently served as its president from 1957-1964. He served in the Punjab Legislative Assembly

Punjab Legislative Assembly

The Punjab Legislative Assembly or the Punjab Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the state of Punjab in northern India. At present, it consists of 117 members, directly elected from 117 single-seat constituencies. The tenure of the legislative assembly is five years, unless sooner...

 from 1952–69, holding many portfolios including the Agriculture, Development and Home ministries.

At the national level he was appointed to the All India Congress Committee

All India Congress Committee

The All India Congress Committee is the Presidium or central decision-making assembly of the Indian National Congress Party. It is composed of members elected from State-level Pradesh Congress Committees and can have as many as a thousand members...

 (AICC) in 1954 and served in the apex congress decision making body the Congress Working Committee

Congress Working Committee

Congress Working Committee is the executive committee of the Congress Party in India, it typically consisting of fifteen members elected from the All India Congress Committee or AICC, and is headed by the Working President....

 from 1962, he held both appointments till his death in 1990. He was elected to the lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha

Lok Sabha

The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...

 in 1971 from the Hoshiarpur

Hoshiarpur

Hoshiarpur is a city and a municipal council in Hoshiarpur district in the Indian state of Punjab. It was founded, according to tradition, during the early part of the fourth century. In 1809 it was occupied by the forces of Maharaja Karanvir Singh and was united into the greater state of Punjab....

 constituency in Punjab. Even though he was never appointed as a Union Minister, he retained deep influence in the party being elected Deputy Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha in 1971. In 1975 he served as the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, one of the most influential parliamentary committees as it overseas all Public Sector companies, across ministerial lines.

In the state elections of 1980, he was elected to Punjab Legislative Assembly from Nakodar, and was appointed as Chief Minister on February 17, 1980. The 1980s were a turbulent time in the history of Punjab marked by an increase in violence and demand for a separate Sikh homeland, Sardar Darbara Singh remained Chief Minister for approximately three years only.During all this time his government was grappling with the rising Khalistani militancy in the state. There was a spate of assassinations, prime among them being the broad daylight murder of Lala Jagat Narain,head of the Punjab Kesri group of news papers of Jalandhar, DIG of Punjab Police Jalandhar range Avtar Singh Atwal in the Golden Temple Complex and several other public men & police officers. Due to the worsening law and order situation due to increase in terrorist violence, the tenure of the ministry was cut short and the Darbara Singh ministry resigned and Presidents rule was imposed in the state( Art.356 of Indian Constitution) on June 6, 1983.

Sardar Darbara Singh was then elected to the Rajya Sabha

Rajya Sabha

The Rajya Sabha or Council of States is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Rajya means "state," and Sabha means "assembly hall" in Sanskrit. Membership is limited to 250 members, 12 of whom are chosen by the President of India for their expertise in specific fields of art, literature,...

in 1984, and served with distinction in Council of States being elected the Chairman of the House Committee in 1986.Sardar Darbara Singh made a place for himself as a good Congress party functionary & a good manager of party affairs. As a result he was entrusted with several crisis management assignments with in the Congress party, especially in its state units by Late Rajive Gandhi.However as an administrator he was not much of a success as chief minister of Punjab.He died after a short illness on 10 March 1990. He was survived by his wife, Sardarni Gurbachan Kaur and four children.