Jaswant Singh | |
|---|---|
 Singh as Defence Minister of India in 2001 | |
| 21st Union Minister of Finance | |
| In office 1 July 2002 – 21 May 2004 | |
| Prime Minister | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Preceded by | Yashwant Sinha |
| Succeeded by | P. Chidambaram |
| In office 16 May 1996 – 1 June 1996 | |
| Prime Minister | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Preceded by | Manmohan Singh |
| Succeeded by | P. Chidambaram |
| 19th Union Minister of Defence | |
| In office 16 March 2001 – 18 October 2001 | |
| Prime Minister | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Preceded by | George Fernandes |
| Succeeded by | George Fernandes |
| 23rd Union Minister of External Affairs | |
| In office 25 March 1998 – 1 July 2002 | |
| Prime Minister | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Preceded by | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Succeeded by | Yashwant Sinha |
| 24th Leader of House, Rajya Sabha | |
| In office 13 October 1999 – 22 May 2004 | |
| Prime Minister | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Rajya Sabha Chairperson | |
| Preceded by | Sikander Bakht |
| Succeeded by | Manmohan Singh |
| 11th Leader of the Opposition, Rajya Sabha | |
| In office 3 June 2004 – 16 May 2009 | |
| Prime Minister | Manmohan Singh |
| Rajya Sabha Chairperson | |
| Preceded by | Manmohan Singh |
| Succeeded by | Arun Jaitley |
| Member of parliament, Lok Sabha | |
| In office 16 May 2009 – 16 May 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Dawa Narbula |
| Succeeded by | Surendrajeet Singh Ahluwalia |
| Constituency | Darjeeling |
| In office 1989–1991 | |
| Preceded by | Ashok Gehlot |
| Succeeded by | Ashok Gehlot |
| Constituency | Jodhpur |
| 21stDeputy Chairman of the Planning Commission | |
| In office 25 March 1998 – 4 February 1999 | |
| Prime Minister | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Preceded by | Madhu Dandavate |
| Succeeded by | K. C. Pant |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1938-01-03)3 January 1938[1] |
| Died | 27 September 2020(2020-09-27) (aged 82)[2] New Delhi, India |
| Party | Bharatiya Janata Party (until 2014)[3] |
| Other political affiliations | Independent (2014 – 2020) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 (includingManvendra Singh)[4] |
| Alma mater | |
| Awards | Outstanding Parliamentarian Award, 2001[5] |
| Signature | _Signature.jpg) |
| Website | jaswantsingh.com (defunct) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  India |
| Branch/service |  Indian Army[6] |
| Years of service | 1957 – 1966 |
| Rank |  Major |
| Unit | The Central India Horse[7] |
| Battles/wars | |
MajorJaswant Singh[a] (3 January 1938 – 27 September 2020)[8] was an Indian Army officer and politician. He was one of the founding members of theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP),[9] and was one of India's longest serving parliamentarians, having been a member of theLok Sabha or theRajya Sabha almost continuously between 1980 and 2014.[10] He was NDA'sVice-presidential candidate in the2012 Indian vice-presidential election. Singh was the only leader fromRajasthan who became Minister OfExternal Affairs,Finance andDefence.[11]
He was elected on aBJP ticket to theRajya Sabha five times (1980, 1986, 1998, 1999, 2004) and to theLok Sabha four times (1990, 1991, 1996, 2009). During theVajpayee administration between 1998 and 2004, he held multiple cabinet portfolios includingFinance,External Affairs andDefence.[12] He also served as theDeputy Chairman of the Planning Commission between 1998 and 1999.[13] In the aftermath of India's nuclear tests of 1998, he was deputed by Prime Minister Vajpayee to act as India's representative to hold repeated, long-term dialogue with the United States (represented byStrobe Talbott) on matters related to nuclear policy and strategy; the outcome of the sustained engagement was positive for both countries.[14][15] After his party lost power in 2004, he served asLeader of Opposition in theRajya Sabha from 2004 to 2009.[16]
Singh incurred the displeasure of his party colleagues when, after the party suffered its second successive defeat in 2009, he circulated a note demanding a thorough discussion on the debacle.[17] Weeks later, a book authored by him was released, in which he was found to have written sympathetically aboutJinnah. Post the event, Singh found himself marginalised within the party. In the elections of 2014, his party decided not to field him from any constituency. He decided to contest anyway as an independent from his native constituency ofBarmer (againstCol. Sonaram Chaudhary) inRajasthan.[18] He was expelled from the BJP on 29 March 2014 when he did not withdraw his independent candidature, and went on to lose the election.[19][20]
On 7 August 2014, he suffered a fall in the bathroom of residence and suffered a serious head injury.[21] In June 2020 he was admitted toArmy's Research and Referral hospital in Delhi for treatment. He remained in a state of coma for six years till his death in 2020.[22][23]
Singh was born on 3 January 1938 in the village ofJasol inRajputana Agency ofBritish India (nowBalotra district) of Rajasthan, India in aRajput family.[24] His father was Sardar Singh Rathore of Jasol and mother was Kunwar Baisa. Singh was married to Sheetal Kanwar.[25] They had two sons. His elder son,Manvendra Singh, is a former Member of Parliament fromBarmer.[26] He was an officer in theIndian Army in the 1960s and was an alumnus ofMayo College and theNational Defence Academy, Khadakwasla.[27]
After his education from theNational Defence Academy, he was enrolled in theIndian Army in the year 1957 and was designated to the position of theCaptain in theCentral India Horse unit.[28] And he was also a participant ofIndo-Pakistani War of 1965 and was the commander of his unit. He was aMajor at the time ofSino-Indian border dispute of the year 1965 after which he retired from theIndian Army in the next year to join politics after serving in the Armed forces for 10 years.[29][30] He was a close accompany ofBhairon Singh Shekhawat and made his links withBharatiya Jana Sangh.[31] He was a member and associate ofRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh from the 1960s.[32]
In theVajpayee government, Singh was External Affairs Minister, and later went on to become the Finance Minister.[33] He was also the Defence Minister whenGeorge Fernandes was forced to resign after theTehelka exposure.[34]
Singh is widely regarded for his handling of relations with the United States which were strained after the1998 Indian nuclear tests but which ameliorated soon after culminating inthe 2000 visit ofU.S. PresidentBill Clinton to India. His skill as a negotiator and diplomat during talks with the United States has been well acknowledged by his U.S. counterpartStrobe Talbott.[35]
Singh has been frequently criticised by political parties for escorting terrorists toKandhahar,Afghanistan. They were released by the Government of India in exchange for passengers from the hijackedIndian Airlines flight IC 814.[36]
Singh was denied aMember of Parliament ticket forBarmer byBJP for the2014 Indian general election overCol. Sonaram Choudhary. Unhappy, Singh filed his nomination as anindependent candidate from Barmer constituency.[37] Subsequently, he was expelled from BJP for six years[38] and lost the election.[39]
Singh entered politics in the 1960s, with the first few years of his political life seeing limited recognition, until he was initiated in theJan Sangh. He tasted success in his political career in 1980 when he was first selected for theRajya Sabha, the upper house of Indian parliament.[40] He served asFinance minister in the short-lived government ofAtal Bihari Vajpayee, which lasted just from 16 May 1996, to 1 June 1996. After Vajpayee became Prime Minister again two years later, he becameMinister for External Affairs of India, serving from 5 December 1998 until 1 July 2002.[16] Responsible forforeign policy, he dealt with high tensions between India andPakistan.[41] In July 2002 he became Finance Minister again, switching posts withYashwant Sinha. He served as Finance Minister until the defeat of the Vajpayee government in May 2004 and was instrumental in defining and pushing through the market-friendly reforms of the government.[42] He was conferred theOutstanding Parliamentarian Award for the year 2001.[43] On 19 August 2009, he was expelled from BJP after criticism over his remarks in his book which allegedly praised the founder ofPakistan in his bookJinnah – India, Partition, Independence.[44] His last major position was asLeader of Opposition in theRajya Sabha from 2004 to 2009.[16]
He was denied a ticket by the party to contest the 2014Lok Sabha Parliamentary Elections from theBarmer-Jaisalmer constituency inRajasthan. He was subsequently expelled from the BJP after deciding to contest the elections as anindependent candidate and lost to his former party's candidateCol. Sonaram Choudhary.[45] Jaswant Singh was elected from Darjeeling Seat from the year 2009 to 2014.[46]
Jaswant Singh held many ministries under the government ofAtal Bihari Vajpayee, including several important such asDefence,External Affairs andFinance.[b] He has also held many important positions including that of Electronics and Science and Technology.[48]
Singh remained as theMinister of Finance in the short-lived government ofFirst Vajpayee government from 16 May 1996 to 1 June 1996. In the short-lived government where he was Minister for just 24 days and there was also economic difficulty, a crisis due to the political instability, and there was a loss of employment similar to the1991 Indian economic crisis which lead to the decline in the value ofIndian currency.[49] It was followed by the instability after the fall ofNarsimha Rao government.[50] After this there was a 1996 Bank Scam after this the fall of Atal Bihari Government automatically Singh was removed from the position and succeeded toP. Chidambaram for the position.[51]
AfterAtal Bihari Vajpayee becomes thePrime Minister of India for the second time in the year 1998, then Singh was appointed as theMinister of External Affairs and succeededAtal Bihari Vajpayee himself for the position.[52] He was at that time firstRajasthani to be aMinister of External Affairs of India atUnion level in theCentral Government.[c] Singh has been one of the most trusted man ofVajpayee and was given task of establishing better international relation with the other nations.[54] He has representednation at an international level in the times ofKargil War andIndia's nuclear test. He was part of the Indian crisis management team who went toKandahar after theIC 814 plane hijack.[55] He remained Minister till 5 December 2002 after the removal ofGeorge Fernandes due to theTehelka conspiracy. As the Minister of External Affairs he launched the first free-trade agreement (withSri Lanka) in South Asia's history, initiated India's most daring diplomatic opening toPakistan, revitalised relations with the US, and reoriented the Indian military, abandoning its Soviet-inspired doctrines and weaponry for close ties with the West.[56]
BJP, came to power in1998 general elections with an exclusivepublic mandate. BJP's political might had been growing steadily over the past decade over several issues.[57] At that time after the successful test of the Second Nuclear Bomb it was considered a masterstroke by the government, it was said that Singh along withAtal Bihari Vajpayee andGeorge Fernandes were the one who played the important role in the functioning.[d] He was one of the members of "Operation Shakti" and among the 12 people who knew about the secret mission.[59] His most essential role came into existence after there were made international pressure on the nation due to the secrecy of the mission whenAtal Bihari Vajpayee made a public announcement for the mission.[60] At that time strong criticism was drawn from Canada on India's actions and itsHigh Commissioner.Sanctions were also imposed by Japan on India and consisted of freezing all new loans and grants except for humanitarian aid to India.[61][62] Some other nations also imposed sanctions on India, primarily in the form of suspension offoreign aid to India and government-to-government credit lines. However, the United Kingdom, France, and Russia refrained from condemning India.[63] The biggest affect was on the relations of India with United States and there were made many restrictions on India and at that time Singh managed to control America atUnited Nations.[64]
| Talk by Jaswant Singh | |
|---|---|
 Talk and Beyond. Published on 16 January 2020 onYouTube. |
After theKargil War and the win ofIndian Armed forces in July 1999 the use ofWMD led to a serious pressure of the world on India and this was led by the anger of United States against India due toPokhran-II Nuclear test series and supported in the favour of Pakistan.[65] At that time Singh was the one who represented India at the international level and had made many interviews with news channels and also made diplomatic talks with leaders and representatives of the United States], China, France, and many other nations.[66] After that Singh made an interview withAtal Bihari Vajpayee in which to strengthening the position ofIndian Government there was a release of a leaked conversation ofPervez Musharraf in which he admitted that he was involved in the attack on India inKargil district in 1999 and that he also planned an attack to killNawaz Sharif and become thePresident of Pakistan.[67] This was known to be a masterpiece and led to a very strong point resulting in the India's diplomatic relations and proving the burden of war on General Musharraf.[68] After that India was freed from allegations of theKargil War.[69]
The terrorists ofTaliban hijacked theIndian Airlines Flight 814 on 24 December 1999 on theTribhuvan International Airport ofKathmandu, Nepal. The motive for the hijacking apparently was to secure the release ofIslamist figures held in prison in India. The hostage crisis lasted for seven days and ended after India agreed to release three militants –Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar,Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, and MulanaMasood Azhar.[70][71] This hijack was also helped byDawood Ibrahim andAl-Qaeda linkedJihadis.[72] Then after too much suggestions and pressure thenPrime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee agrees on the demand of the hijackers ofTaliban and sendsAjit Doval inKandahar and after that Vajpayee decided to send Singh as he was one of the most trusted men. He was sent toKandahar ofAfghanistan to escort the terrorists and take back the crew members.[73] It was also said that Singh has made a secret talks withTaliban Foreign MinisterWakil Ahmed Muttawakil and made an agreement of 3 terrorists in exchange of 170 crew members including men, women and children.[74] Later terrorists also demanded 900 crores rupees and 36 other terrorists, but somehow it was denied.[75] On 31 December 1999 on New Year of 2000 all 176 were released and they all landed toIndira Gandhi International Airport.[76]
The incident is seen as a failure of theBJP government under Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee and IB chiefAjit Doval said that India would have had a stronger negotiating hand if the aircraft had not been allowed to leave Indian territory.[77] Doval, the IB chief, who led the four-member negotiating team to Kandahar, described the whole incident as a "diplomatic failure" of the government in their inability to make the US and UAE use their influence to help secure a quick release of the passengers.[78] Singh also received criticism for praising the Taliban for their co-operation after the hostages had been returned.[79]
Singh was appointed as theMinister of Defence of India in the year 2000 after minister before him,George Fernandes was convicted in theTehelka case and was forced to resign from his position.[80] He remained as the Minister from 2000 to 2001 after whichFernandes was re-appointed as theMinister of Defence after getting cleanchit in the conspiracy.[81] After that in the year 2002 he was re-appointed as theMinister of Finance of India in theVajpayee Government.[82]
After returning ofGeorge Fernandes as the Defence Minister for the second time after getting cleanchit inTehelka case, Singh was appointed as theUnion Minister of Finance in 2002 and remained till 2004 after theVajpayee Government lost the 2004 General Election and passed the position toP. Chidambaram. In his reign of 2 years for the second time he has been known to make market-friendly reforms in theEconomy of India and due to his good diplomatic skills and good relations with other nations from the times when he was theMinister of External Affairs.[83]
In late 2002 and 2003 the government pushed through economic reforms.[84] Due to the good administration of Jaswant Singh the country's GDP growth exceeded 7% every year from 2003 to 2007, following three years of sub-5% growth.[85] Increasing foreign investment, modernisation of public and industrial infrastructure, the creation of jobs, a rising high-tech and IT industry and urban modernisation and expansion improved the nation's international image. Good crop harvests and strong industrial expansion also helped the economy.[86] The rate of stock growth under him as the Finance Ministry was also at one of the highest points in theIndian Economic Growth groth history under the period of two years of his ministry and the Inflation rate was also very much good in the period of the two years.[87] From 2002 to 2004, theeconomy of India was one of the fastest growing in the world and one of the leading agricultural nations and second most output afterChina.[88][89]
Jaswant Singh was appointed as theMember of Parliament of Rajya Sabha for the fourth time in the year 1999 and after the formation of theVajpayee Government he was appointed as theLeader of Rajya Sabha on 13 October 1999 and remained till the time of fall of the Vajpayee Government on 22 May 2004 and succeeded the position to thenPrime Minister,Manmohan Singh.[90] In the time period Jaswant Singh held many crucial positions and ministries and before that he was previously serving in the position ofMinister of External Affairs of India atUnion Government and in this period he served asMinister of Defence andFinance.[e]
After theVajpayee's government fell down and after that Singh who was earlier aMember of Parliament fromRajya Sabha from the state ofRajasthan was appointed as the Leader of Opposition ofRajya Sabha and hold the position for a time period of 5 years from 2004 to 2009.[91] The mastermind ofRajasthan,Bhairon Singh Shekhawat when was appointed as theVice-President of India and at that time Singh took the responsibility of strengthening the party inCentral level and main focus in the state ofRajasthan.[92] After the fall ofNational Democratic Alliance in the year 2004 and the weakening of senior-BJP leaders likeAtal Bihari Vajpayee,Murli Manohar Joshi,Lal Krishna Advani and the politics of other big leaders likeBhairon Singh Shekhawat in central level, Singh as the leader of Opposition shifted his politics for the strengthening of theparty in ground roots and in state levels in states ofWestern India such asGujarat,Madhya Pradesh and speciallyRajasthan.[93][94] Under this period Singh also served many non political position in theIndian government remaining as the leader of Opposition including: "Member of Committee for General purposes (from 2005-2006)", "Member, Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests (from August 2004 to August 2004)" and "Member of Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Installation of Portraits/Statues of National Leaders and Parliamentarians in Parliament House Complex (August 2004 – May 2009)".[48] After that then he was expelled from the party.
He was the candidate for the post ofVice-president for the NDA in 2012. Singh had filed his nomination papers on 20 July in the presence ofNational Democratic Alliance coalition leaders.[95] Three sets of papers- one each byL. K. Advani,Sumitra Mahajan andYashwant Sinha, supporting Singh's candidature were submitted to the returning officer Viswanathan. His candidature was announced by the NDA on 16 July.[96] He meetAll India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leaderJayalalithaa andNaveen Patnaik ofBiju Janata Dal on 6 August asking them to support his candidature. He lost toHamid Ansari who was the UPA'sVice-presidential candidate.[97] In the Election he got 238 seats and received 32.69% of the votes, whileHamid Ansari got 490 seats and received 67.31% of the votes.[98]
It is with profound grief that we inform you about the sad demise of Hon’ble Major Jaswant Singh (Retd), former Cabinet Minister of Government of India at 6:55 a.m. on September 27, 2020. He was admitted on June 25, 2020, and being treated for Sepsis with Multiorgan Dysfunction Syndrome and effects of Severe Head Injury old (Optd) had a cardiac arrest this morning,”
In June 2020, Singh was admitted to the Delhi'sArmy Hospital Research and Referral and was being treated forsepsis with multi-organ dysfunction syndrome and effects of a severe head injury he suffered as a result of a fall in 2014. On 27 September he suffered cardiac arrest. Singh died at the age of 82 years.[105][106][107] His death was triggered as a sign of honour and was mourned with full esteem and with state funeral.[108] His last rites were done by his sonManvendra Singh and was cremated inJodhpur,Rajasthan with fullHindu rituals.[109] Due toCOVID-19 pandemic only family members were present and very few relatives.Prime MinisterNarendra Modi reacted on his death stated that "Jaswant Singh Ji served our nation diligently, first as a soldier and later during his long association with politics. DuringAtal Ji's Government, he handled crucial portfolios and left a strong mark in the worlds ofFinance,Defence andExternal affairs. Saddened by his demise"[110]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
Media related toJaswant Singh at Wikimedia Commons
Quotations related toJaswant Singh at Wikiquote| Jaswant Singh's positions and offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Rajya Sabha | ||
| Preceded by N/A | Member of Parliament forRajya SabhaRajasthan 1980–1992 | Succeeded by N/A |
| Preceded by N/A | Member of Parliament forRajya SabhaRajasthan 1998-2010 | Succeeded by N/A |
| Lok Sabha | ||
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forJodhpur 1989-1991 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forChittorgarh 1991-1998 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forDarjeeling 2009-2014 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister of Finance 1996 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission 1998-1999 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Leader of Rajya Sabha 1998-2004 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of External Affairs 1998-2002 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Defence 2002 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Finance 2002-2004 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Opposition leader of Rajya Sabha 2004-2009 | Succeeded by |
