Sharma began practicing law atLucknow from 1940 where he taught law at the university and soon joined theIndian National Congress.[6] In 1946, he was admitted to theLincoln's Inn and taught at Cambridge University during 1946–47. The following year, he was appointed a Brandeis Fellow atHarvard University.[7][8][9]
During 1948–49, Sharma underwent eight months' imprisonment for his leadership of the popular movement for merging theprincely state of Bhopal with India.[10][11] Although theNawab of Bhopal had acceded his state to theDominion of India, he had held out against signing theInstrument of Accession. The popular movement had the support of thePraja Mandal and an interim government with Chatur Narain Malviya as its head was constituted by the Nawab in 1948. However, as the movement gained support, the Nawab dismissed this government. Public pressure and the intervention ofV. P. Menon led the Nawab to merge his state with theIndian Union in 1949 with the princely state reconstituted asBhopal State.[a][15][16][17]
Sharma was president of the Bhopal State Congress during 1950 to 1952.[18] He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Bhopal fromBerasia in theelections of 1952 and becamechief minister of Bhopal State in 1952.[19][20] In 1956, following thereorganization of states, Bhopal State was merged with the new state ofMadhya Pradesh.[21] Sharma played an important role in retaining Bhopal as the capital of this new state.[22]
During 1967–68, he was president of theMadhya Pradesh Congress Committee and served as general secretary of the party from 1968 to 1972.[26] During the split in 1969, Sharma sided withIndira Gandhi and was removed from party posts by the presidentS. Nijalingappa but reappointed by Gandhi in her faction of the party.[29][30]
Sharma convened a session of the Assembly on 11 September 1984 but as Bhaskara Rao failed to prove his majority within the period of one month stipulated by Ram Lal, Sharma suggested that he resign with effect from 16 September. Bhaskar Rao refused to do so seeking the reconvening of the Assembly a few days later. Sharma then dismissed him and reappointed Rama Rao as chief minister. Rama Rao won the vote of confidence when the Assembly reconvened on 20 September 1984. Soon after, the Rama Rao government called for fresh elections and Sharma dissolved the Assembly in November 1984.[45][46][47]
In theAssembly election of 1985, TDP was returned to power with a two-thirds majority with Rama Rao returning as the chief minister. A few months later, Sharma refused torepromulgate threeordinances sent to him by theRama Rao's government stating that ordinances are required to be ratified by the legislature and that their repromulgation would be a constitutional impropriety. His refusal to repromulgate these ordinances, pertaining to the abolition of offices of part-time village officers, formation of districts and payment of salaries and removal of disqualifications of government employees, a fourth time soured his relation with the state government.[48]
Sharma was nominated by the Congress party for thevice-presidential election of 1987.[66] Although 27 candidates had filed nominations, only the nomination filed by Sharma was found valid by thereturning officer. After the last date of withdrawal of candidates was over, Sharma was declared elected unanimously on 21 August 1987.[67][68] Sharma was sworn in as thevice president on 3 September 1987.[69][70] He was only the third person to be elected unopposed to the vice-presidency.[71]
Sharma, who was also theex-officio chairman of theRajya Sabha, offered to quit in February 1988 after his ruling admitting a discussion in the house of the purported extravagance of the then governor of Andhra Pradesh was vociferously objected to by members of the government. Several ministers of thecouncil of ministers led the protests against Sharma's ruling even as Prime MinisterRajiv Gandhi, who was present in the house, chose not to intervene or restrain the members of his party. Sharma's response chastened the protesting members but their request to have the proceedings expunged from Parliament records was turned down by Sharma.[72][73][74]
Sharma's victory was seen as a victory for the Congress party and Prime MinisterP. V. Narasimha Rao who headed aminority government.[88][89] Although seen as a largely ceremonial post, the office of the president is key since the incumbent gets to nominate a head of government in the event ofno party gaining a majority in Parliament after national elections or after a government had lost avote of confidence.[84][90] The Rao ministry faced three no-confidence motions during its tenure the third of which, held in July 1993, was marred by allegations ofbribery and subsequentcriminal indictment against Rao himself.[91][92][93]
Shankar Dayal Sharma addressing the recipients of Press India Award atRashtrapati Bhavan
On 6 December 1992, theBabri Masjid inAyodhya wasdemolished by a fanatic Hindu mob which led to widespread rioting across India. Sharma expressed his deep anguish and pain at the demolition and condemned the action as being contrary to the traditional ethos of India of respecting all religions and as opposed to the precepts ofHinduism.[94][95] Sharma's strong condemnation of the incident forced the Rao government to dismiss thestate government and imposePresident's rule inUttar Pradesh, the state in which Ayodhya is located, the same evening.[96][97][98] The following day, theGovernment of India, by way of apresidential ordinance, acquired 67 acres (27 ha) of land in and around the spot where the mosque had stood and provided that all litigation relating to the disputed area would stand dissolved following the acquisition.[99] In January 1993, a reference was made by Sharma to India'sSupreme Court as to whether aHindu temple or religious structure had existed prior to the construction of the Babri Masjid at thedisputed area where the mosque stood. In 1994, by a majority decision, the Court refused to answer the reference as it held it to be contrary to the spirit ofsecularism and likely to favour a religious community.[100]
In 1995, Sharma dedicated to theIndian people the reconstructedSomnath temple inGujarat. At the dedication ceremony, Sharma stated that all religions taught the same lesson of unity and placed humanism above all else. The construction of the temple had lasted for fifty years. Questions about its financing, the role of the state in its reconstruction and the presence of constitutional functionaries during the installation of the idol had been marked by debates on secularism in the years followingIndia's independence.[101][102] The same year, even as the Narasimha Rao government dithered on acting againstSheila Kaul, thegovernor of Himachal Pradesh, after the Supreme Court expressed its concern that she was using hergubernatorial immunity to avoid criminal proceedings, Sharma forced the government to get her to resign immediately.[98][103]
Sharma largely enjoyed cordial ties with Narasimha Rao government. In 1996, however, two ordinances sent to him by the Rao government seeking to extend the benefits ofreservations in state employment and education forChristian andMuslim Dalits and to reduce the time allowed for campaigning in elections, were returned by Sharma on the grounds that elections were imminent and therefore such decisions should be left to the incoming government.[104][105][103]
In thegeneral elections of 1996, no party got a majority in Parliament but theBharatiya Janata Party emerged the largest party winning 160 seats out of 543.[106] The ruling Congress party came second with 139 seats.[106] On 15 May 1996, Sharma invited Atal Bihari Vajpayee, as the leader of the single largest party, to be the prime minister on the condition that he prove his majority on the floor of the house before 31 May. Vajpayee and a cabinet of 11 ministers were sworn in the following day.[106] President Sharma addressed the new parliament on 24 May.[c][106] The motion for vote of confidence was taken up and discussed on 27 and 28 May.[111] However, before the motion could be put to vote, Vajpayee announced his resignation.[112] The government lasted only 13 days, the shortest in India's history.[113][114]
President Sharma's decision of selecting Vajpayee as prime minister drew criticism from several quarters. Unlike presidentsRamaswamy Venkataraman orNeelam Sanjiva Reddy who had asked prime ministerial candidates to produce lists of their supportingMPs, thus satisfying themselves that the prime ministers appointed would be able to win a vote of confidence, Sharma had made no such demands of Vajpayee and had appointed him solely by the principle of inviting the leader of the largest party in Parliament. Also, unlike President Venkataraman, Sharma issued nopress communiqués outlining the rationale for his decision.[115][116] The Communist parties criticized Sharma's decision as he had been elected president with their backing but had chosen to invite their ideological opponent to be the prime minister.[117]
Sharma's decision to invite Vajpayee has been attributed to the fact that no party had staked their claim to form the government and theUnited Front, a coalition of thirteen parties, took time to decide on their leader and in getting the Congress party to extend its support to them.[118] Sharma's deadline of two weeks given to Vajpayee to prove his majority was much shorter than the time given to prime ministers in previous instances and was a move to discouragehorse trading.[115]
Following Vajpayee's resignation, Sharma asked him to continue ascaretaker prime minister and appointedH. D. Deve Gowda as prime minister on 28 May 1996 after being assured of the support of the Congress party for his candidature.[119] Gowda and a 21 membercouncil of ministers sworn in on 1 June and won a vote of confidence within the deadline of twelve days set by Sharma.[106][120] Gowda, a formerchief minister of Karnataka, was India's third prime minister in as many weeks and headed a diverse coalition comprisingregional parties, leftists andlower caste Hindu politicians. He was also India's first prime minister not conversant in itsofficial language,Hindi.[121] The government lasted ten months and was dependent on the Congress party which, under its new presidentSitaram Kesri, withdrew support in April 1997 alleging failure on the part of the prime minister in preventing the growth ofHindu nationalist political parties inNorth India.[121][122] Sharma then directed Gowda to seek a vote of confidence in Parliament.[123] Gowda lost the vote of confidence on 11 April 1997 and continued to head a caretaker government as President Sharma considered a further course of action.[124][125]
I. K. Gujral was sworn in as prime minister on April 21, 1997.[126]
On 21 April 1997,Inder Kumar Gujral, who had been theforeign minister under Deve Gowda, was sworn in as prime minister and was given two days time win a vote of confidence in Parliament.[127][128] He was the third prime minister to be sworn in by Sharma and his government would last 322 days when the Congress party again withdrew support to the United Front ministry.[129][130][131]
Sharma died due to heart attack at the Escorts Heart Institute, Delhi on 26 December 1999. He was married to Vimala and had two sons and a daughter. The Government of India declared seven days ofnational mourning in his honour.[143][144] Astate funeral was accorded to him and he wascremated on 27 December 1999.[145][146] Hissamadhi lies atKarma Bhumi, Delhi.[147][148]
Sharma was the author of several books in English and Hindi. These includeThe Congress Approach to International Affairs,Studies in Indo-Soviet cooperation,Rule of Law and Role of Police,Jawaharlal Nehru: The Maker of Modern Commonwealth,Eminent Indians,Chetna Ke Strot andHindi Bhasha Aur Sanskriti. He was also editor of theLucknow Law Journal,Socialist India,Jyoti and theIlm-o-Nur.[156][157]
A commemorative postage stamp of India featuring President Sharma
Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma, a 1999shortdocumentary feature by A. K. Goorha covers his life and presidency. It was produced by theGovernment of India'sFilms Division.[158] In 2000, acommemorative postage stamp was issued in his honour byIndia Post.[159] In Bhopal, the Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma Ayurvedic College & Hospital and the Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma College are named after him.[160][161] Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma Institute of Democracy under the University of Lucknow was inaugurated in 2009.[162]
The Shankar Dayal Sharma Gold Medal, awarded annually at several universities in India, was instituted in 1994 from endowments made by Sharma.[163][164][165]
^Upon theindependence of India andPakistan, theprincely states under theBritish Raj had the choice of joining eitherdominion or of remaining independent since theIndian Independence Act only provided for the termination of British suzerainty. With the exceptions ofHyderabad andKashmir, none of the other princely states opted to be independent owing to geopolitical considerations. The accession of these states to either of the dominions was achieved through anInstrument of Accession which they signed with thedominion government thus surrendering their control over defence, communications and foreign relations to the dominion government. By the Instrument of Merger, the princely states surrendered “full and exclusive authority, jurisdiction and powers in relation to the governance of their States” to the dominion government and settled matters pertaining to their privy purse. The last regnant Nawab of Bhopal,Hamidullah Khan, had signed the Instrument of Accession with the Government of India in August 1947 but not the Instrument of Merger, wanting to retain his state as a separate unit within India. Following the merger agitation, the Nawab signed the Instrument of Merger on 30 April 1949. Thereafter, Bhopal State was formed as apart ‘C' State of Indian Union and came under the administration of aChief Commissioner on June 1, 1949.[12][13][14]
^ The three men involved in the murder - Ranjit Gill 'Kuki',Harjinder Singh Jinda andSukhdev Singh Sukha were eventually apprehended. Jinda and Sukha were convicted for their involvement in the murder ofGeneralA. S. Vaidya, who had ledOperation Blue Star, and were awarded thecapital punishment[49] Article 72 of the Indian Constitution grants thepresident of India or theGovernor of a state the power topardon, remit orcommute sentences.[50] In a twist of fate, the mercy petitions filed by duo came up before President Sharma in 1992 and were rejected. Consequently, both werehung.[51][52] Ranjit Gill was arrested in 2003 and sentenced tolife imprisonment, which was later commuted with the consent of Maken's daughter Avantika.[49] During his presidency, Sharma rejected all mercy petitions put for his consideration.[53]
^Article 87 of India's constitution provides for the president to address both houses ofParliament in ajoint sitting at the commencement of the firstsession of each year and at the commencement of the first session after eachgeneral election. The speech is a statement of the government's policy and plans for the year ahead and the government of the day is responsible for its contents.[107] The speech is then put to a motion of thanks which allows theopposition to critique it and also to suggest amendments.[108][109] In 1996, the Vajpayee government resigned before it could propose a motion of thanks to thepresident's address and the Deve Gowda ministry disagreed with the contents of the address. In the event it was decided by consensus that no motion of thanks would be moved on the president's address of 1996 to avoid a political crisis.[110]
^In 1996,Zimbabwe made thediplomatic gift of a pair ofAfrican elephants which arrived inIndia in 1998. The male, named Shankar in honour of President Sharma, lived alone in theDelhi Zoo after its companion Bombai, named after the wife of the thenambassador of Zimbabwe to India, died in 2005. After the elephant's plight was taken up byanimal rights activists, theDelhi High Court ordered the zoo to explore the possibility of getting Shankar a mate. As of October 2022, the Delhi Zoo had shortlistedSouth Africa as a source for procuring a female companion for Shankar.[136][137][138]
