Early life
James Shankar Singh, although himself a Christian convert, came from an influential Kisan Sangh supportingEarly election losses
With his family's involvement in sugar politics, it was only a matter of time before James Shankar Singh himself entered politics. His opportunity arose in 1963 when he stood for the North Viti Levu Indian Constituency against S.M. Koya of the Citizens Federation. The constituency included the districts of Ba, Tavua and Ra and in a tense and sometimes violent campaign Singh lost to Koya by 3,998 to 3,480 votes. This was the closest contest of the election and although Singh obtained the majority of the votes in Ba, voters from Tavua and Ra swung the election in Koya's favour. The increase in the number of Indian Communal sets in the 1966 election, led to the creation of the Ba Indian Communal Constituency, which included all the areas of the district of Ba only. Singh was expected to do well this time but lost this time to R. D. Patel of the Federation Party by 4704 to 4411 votes. In this election, although Singh had stood as an independent candidate, he supported the policies of the newly formed Alliance Party. After the two losses he took a brief break from politics, not contesting the 1968 by-election.Election win and ministerial appointment
In the 1972 election, his loyalty to the Alliance Party was rewarded with the safe seat of Vanua Levu and Lau formerly held by his relative, Vijay R. Singh. After the election he was appointed the Minister of Health. After Vijay R. Singh resigned as leader of the Indian Alliance, following his appointment as Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1976, the leadership of the Indian division of the Alliance passed on to James Shankar Singh. Following the shock defeat of the Alliance Party in the March 1977 election, the Party adopted a more emphatically ethnic Fijian policy, in order to regain its lost Fijian votes. With the rise of Ahmed Ali, who was prepared condone the new pro-Fijian policies of the Alliance Party, James Shankar Singh found himself being alienated from the party's leadership, and after he failed to get the party ticket for the 1982 election, resigned from the Alliance on the grounds of "irreconcilable differences" with Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara.Joining his former rivals
Considering that the Alliance Party had little interest in gaining Indo-Fijian votes, James Shankar Singh found himself being drawn closer to the then leader of the National Federation Party and his former arch-rival, Sidiq Koya. When Vijay R. Singh resigned his Ba National seat in 1985, James Shankar Singh nominated for the seat on behalf of the National Federation Party. Enough, his Alliance Party opponent was his brother, Uday Singh but by this time the National Federation Party was in decline with the rise of theDeath
James Shankar Singh died on 27 July 2014 at his home in Auckland, New Zealand.References