Anant Prasad Sharma (25 December 1919 – October 1988) was an Indian Railway Union leader, politician who became

Minister of State for Industry The minister of state for energy security and net zero is a mid-level position in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero in the Government of the United Kingdom. It is currently held by Graham Stuart. The role used to be part of the por ...

, and Union Minister of the government of India. He was also the Governor of the State of Punjab and the

State of West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the f ...

. He was a member of the 3rd Lok Sabha and 5th Lok Sabha from

Buxar (Lok Sabha constituency) Buxar Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 40 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in Bihar state in eastern India. Assembly segments Presently, Buxar Lok Sabha constituency comprises the following six Vidhan Sabha (legislative assembly) se ...

. He also remained member of the

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, wikisource:Constitution of India/Part V#Article 80, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legisl ...

thrice, 1968-1971, 1978-1983 and 1984-1988.

Early years and education

Anant Sharma was born on 25 December 1919 to Ram Naresh Sharma, in his village named Gaudarh near Shahpur in Bhojpur District,

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

(then in Shahabad District). He was born into a humble family. He studied at D.A.V. School.

Career

Sharma was a Railway Union Leader. Because of his career as a trade union leader, he was invited by

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

, the first Prime Minister of independent India, to run for the

Parliamentary elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ...

from the constituency of Buxar, Bihar. He ran and won in 1962 and again in 1971. In 1966, he became the President of Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC). In 1974, he was made the Minister of State for Industry, Government of India, under the Prime Ministership of Indira Gandhi. Thereafter, he went on to become the Union Minister for Ministries including Communications, Surface Transport, Shipping and Civil Aviation in Government of India. He was the Minister of Communications from 1982 to 1983. Shri A P Sharma became the Governor of the State of Punjab and the State of West Bengal in 1983.

Personal life

He was married to Tara Devi, and the couple had two sons and four daughters. He died in October 1988. His eldest son, Shri Hriday Narayan Sharma, an India Railway officer was asked by Shri Rajiv Gandhi to contest the Bihar State Assembly Elections from Dumraon in 1990. He is settled in Delhi along with his family.

References

* His second son was Mr manmohan Sharma was an officer in air India.his wife is also very religious {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharma, Anant 1919 births 1988 deaths Trade unionists from Bihar People from Bhojpur district, India Governors of West Bengal Governors of Punjab, India Union ministers of state of India Indian National Congress politicians Lok Sabha members from Bihar India MPs 1962–1967 India MPs 1971–1977 Rajya Sabha members from Bihar Civil aviation ministers of India Tourism ministers of India Members of the Cabinet of India