Dharam Narayan Singh (25 December 1936 – 27 July 2017) was an Indian politician who served as the 11th Chief Minister of Karnataka from 28 May 2004 to 28 January 2006 and

Member of the Lok Sabha A Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha (abbreviated: MP) is the representative of a legislative constituency in the Lok Sabha; the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of parliament of Lok Sabha are chosen by direct elections on ...

from Bidar Lok Sabha constituency, in

15th Lok Sabha Members of the 15th Lok Sabha were elected during the 2009 general election in India. It was dissolved on 18 May 2014 by President Pranab Mukherjee.Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance won 44 more seats than the previous 14t ...

from 2009 to 2014. He belonged to the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

. He was the 18th President of the

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) is the unit of the Indian National Congress for the state of Karnataka. Its head office is situated at the ''Congress Bhawan'', Queens Road, Bengaluru. It is responsible for organizing and coordinating ...

and he was the nine-term Member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from Jevaragi constituency.

Early life and family

Dharam Singh was born in Nelogi village of

Jevargi Jēvargi is a town in Kalaburagi district of Karnataka, India. It is the headquarters of the Jevargi Taluk. Geography Jevargi has an average elevation of . The town is spread over an area of .The area of major towns in Karnataka has been menti ...

taluk (in

Kalaburagi district Kalaburagi district, formerly known as Gulbarga district, is one of the 31 districts of Karnataka state in southern India. Kalaburagi city is the administrative headquarters of the district. The district is the headquarters of Kalaburagi divi ...

of the

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

). He was from

Rajput Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

family, who are minority community in

. He obtained his

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

and law degrees from

Osmania University Osmania University is a collegiate university, collegiate Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Mir Osman Ali Khan, the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad, issued a ''firman'' calling f ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

Political career

Singh began his career in politics as an Independent Corporator in the

City Municipal Council by contesting against his own brother. He started his political career as a socialist. He was brought up under the influence of

Bhim Sena The Bhim Sena, alternatively Bheem Sena, or Akhil Bhartiya Bhim Sena, abbreviated as ABBS, lit."All India Ambedkar Army", is an Ambedkarite social organization working for the rights of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Cla ...

founder B. Shyam Sunder who was a legislator to Hyderabad State and served as its Deputy speaker. He was the Secretary of Hyderabad Karnataka Youth League, and his election agent in 1957, and issued a pamphlet in Urdu to vote in his favour. In the late 1960s, he joined the

and his loyalty made him a strong contender for the post of

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

in 2004. He gave up the Kalaburgi Lok Sabha seat of which he was the Member of Parliament to accommodate C.M. Stephen, who was a Union Minister in the

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

Cabinet, in 1980 on Indira Gandhi's directions. He has served as a minister under various chief ministers such as

Devaraj Urs Devaraj Devaraj Arasu (20 August 1915 – 6 June 1982) was an Indian politician who served two terms as the Chief Minister of Karnataka (1972–77, 1978–80). He is also the longest serving Chief Minister of Karnataka in terms of days of te ...

, R. Gundu Rao, S. Bangarappa, M. Veerappa Moily and S. M. Krishna, and has handled diverse portfolios such as Home, Excise, Social Welfare, Urban Development and Revenue. He was KPCC president in the 1990s when his party was out of power. At that time, the Congress' national leadership was headed by

Sitaram Kesri Sitaram Kesri (15 November 1919 – 24 October 2000) was an Indian politician and parliamentarian. He became a union minister and served as President of the Indian National Congress from 1996 to 1998. __TOC__ Political career Pre-Independenc ...

, of whom Singh was said to be a favourite. He lost out to his senior colleague S. M. Krishna in the race to the Chief Minister's post in 1999. Then, he joined the Krishna ministry and handled the Public Works Department portfolio. When the 2004 state elections resulted in a hung assembly with no party getting enough seats to form a government, the Congress and

Janata Dal (Secular) {{Infobox Indian Political Party , party_name = Janata Dal (Secular) , party_logo = , colorcode = {{party color, Janata Dal (Secular) , abbreviation = JD(S) , president = H. D. Deve Gowda , founder ...

(JD(S)) parties decided to come together and form a coalition government. Known for his adaptability and friendly nature and his close political ties with H. D. Deve Gowda, Dharam Singh was the unanimous choice of both parties to head the government. He was sworn in as

on 28 May 2004. He was the second leader from

Kalaburgi Kalaburagi, formerly known as Gulbarga, is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka, It is headquarters of eponymous Kalaburagi district and Kalaburagi division, Kalaburagi city is governed by a Municipal Corporation, It is called a Sufi cit ...

to become Chief Minister after

Veerendra Patil Veerendra Basappa Patil (Kannada: ವೀರೇಂದ್ರ ಪಾಟೀಲ್; 28 February 1924 – 14 March 1997) was a senior Indian politician and was twice, the Chief Minister of Karnataka. He became Chief Minister for the first time fr ...

. For almost 20 months, he led the fragile coalition through many ups and downs. He was criticised for not being assertive in the sense of coming from minority community and further allowing the JD(S) supremo to join hands, which was their junior partner in coalition to call the shots in the government. He left office on 3 February 2006 after the collapse of the Coalition government formed by the Congress (I) due to a defection in the JD(S) engineered by H.D. Kumaraswamy, who succeeded him as Chief Minister, leading a new coalition with the BJP. During the tenure of H.D. Kumaraswamy, Dharam Singh was the Leader of Opposition in the

Karnataka Legislative Assembly The Karnataka Legislative Assembly (formerly the Mysore Legislative Assembly) is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. Karnataka is one of the six states in India where the state legislature ...

. However, in the 2008 state elections he was defeated by a political lightweight, Doddappagouda Patil Naribol of the BJP, by a slim margin of 52 postal votes. In the Lok Sabha elections held in May 2009, he contested the Bidar Lok Sabha constituency and emerged victorious against his former colleague Gurupadappa Nagmarpalli of the BJP by a huge margin of 92,222 votes. However, Dharam Singh had to bite dust in 2014 Lok Sabha election when he lost to Bhagwant Khuba by over a lakh votes, which ended his political career.

Death

He died on 27 July 2017 due to cardiac arrest in Bengaluru, aged 80. He was cremated with State Honours and by Rajput Tradition.

Positions held

* 1967:

Councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

Gulbarga Kalaburagi, formerly known as Gulbarga, is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka, It is headquarters of eponymous Kalaburagi district and Kalaburagi division, Kalaburagi city is governed by a Municipal Corporation, It is called a Sufi c ...

City Municipal Council * 1972–2008: Member of

* Member of State Backward Classes Commission * Minister for Urban Development, Karnataka * Minister for Home & Excise, Karnataka * Minister for Revenue and Social Welfare * KPCC President * 1999-2004: Minister for Public works, Karnataka * also PWD minister of Karnataka state * 2004-2006:

Chief Minister of Karnataka The Chief minister (India), chief minister of Karnataka is the Head of government, chief executive officer of the Government of Karnataka, government of the Indian state of Karnataka. As per the Constitution of India, the governor of Karnatak ...

* 2006-2007: Leader of Opposition,

* 2009-2014: Member Of Parliament

Criticism and controversy

The Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Nitte Santosh Hegde in 2008 has found Dharam Singh and 11 other officials guilty of causing a loss to the State exchequer owing to irregularities in the mining sector. The Lokayukta report indicted him for causing a loss of Rs. 23.22 crore. According to the report, Dharam Singh is at fault for allowing

illegal mining Illegal mining is mining activity that is undertaken without state permission. Illegal mining is the extraction of precious metals/rocks without following the proper procedures to participate in legal mining activity. These procedures include pe ...

in "patta" lands. The Lokayukta had also asked for the amount caused as loss to be recovered from Dharam Singh.

References

External links

Karnataka CM's Profile

Dharam Singh Watch
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Dharam 1936 births 2017 deaths Chief ministers of Karnataka People from Bidar district People from Kalaburagi district India MPs 1980–1984 India MPs 2009–2014 Lok Sabha members from Karnataka Leaders of the opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly Chief ministers from Indian National Congress Indian National Congress politicians from Karnataka Mysore MLAs 1972–1977 Members of the Mysore Legislature Karnataka MLAs 1978–1983 Karnataka MLAs 1983–1985 Karnataka MLAs 1985–1989 Karnataka MLAs 1989–1994 Karnataka MLAs 1994–1999 Karnataka MLAs 1999–2004 Karnataka MLAs 2004–2007 Presidents of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee