Ram Dhan (1 July 1921 – 23 May 2001) was an Indian politician and freedom fighter. He represented Lalganj in

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

a number of times. Ram Dhan was arrested on the night when

Emergency An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...

was declared by

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 ...

Early life

Ram Dhan was born on 1 July 1921 in a Raidas family of

Chamar Chamar (or Jatav) is a community classified as a Scheduled Caste under modern India's Reservation in India, system of affirmative action that originated from the group of trade persons who were involved in leather tanning and shoemaking. They a ...

at Azampur in

Azamgarh Azamgarh is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the headquarters of Azamgarh division, which consists of Ballia, Mau and Azamgarh districts. Azamgarh is situated on the bank of Tamsa River (Tons). It is located east of the ...

district of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

. He attended Central Hindu College (now

Banaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU), formerly Benares Hindu University, is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916. The university incorporated the Central Hindu College, ...

) and was awarded Bachelor of Law degree at Law College, BHU. He joined the Socialist movement and grew close to leaders like

Jayaprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan Srivastava (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), also known as JP and ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian politician, theorist and Indian independence activist, independence activist. He is mai ...

and Acharya Narendra Dev. But later he joined

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

. In 1963, he married Chandrawati Devi. The couple had two son and two daughters. He also served as a correspondent of Aaj and Sansar of

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

, Swatantra Bharat of

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

and Amrit Bazar Patrika of

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

Political career

Before 1947, he took part in many freedom struggles. He was detained under Defence of India Rules for 2 years for taking part in the Quit India Movement in 1942. He joined the Socialist movement but in 1960 he joined Congress party. He was member of 4th, 5th Lok Sabha, representing Lalganj on Congress ticket. He was arrested under

Maintenance of Internal Security Act The Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) was a controversial law passed by the Indian parliament in 1971 giving the administration of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Indian law enforcement agencies very broad powers – indefinite pr ...

(MISA) during Emergency. He was among the few in Congress who were arrested along with

Chandra Shekhar Chandra Shekhar (17 April 1927 – 8 July 2007), also known as Jananayak, was an Indian politician and the prime minister of India, between 10 November 1990 and 21 June 1991. He headed a minority government of a breakaway faction of the Janata ...

, Mohan Dharia and Krishan Kant. In 1977, he was elected as Lok Sabha MP on

Janata Party The Janata Party (JP, ) is an unrecognised political party in India. Navneet Chaturvedi is the current president of the party since November 2021, replacing Jaiprakash Bandhu. The JP was established as an amalgam of Indian political partie ...

ticket from Lalganj Lok Sabha constituency. He was also made General Secretary of

, but when

Morarji Desai Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (29 February 1896 – 10 April 1995) was an Indian politician and Indian independence activist, independence activist who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India between 1977 and 1979 leading th ...

was declared as Prime Minister instead of

Jagjivan Ram Jagjivan Ram (5 April 1908 – 6 July 1986), popularly known as Babuji, was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as a minister with various portfolios for over 30 years, making him the List of longest-serving members of the ...

, he resigned in protest. Later he joined Congress but along with VP Singh he resigned from Congress and formed

Janata Dal Janata Dal () was an List of political parties in India, Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Lok Dal, Indian National Congress (Jagjivan), and the Jan Morcha on 11 October 1988—the birth anniversary of Jayaprakash Na ...

Positions held

* 1945–1948 President of District Depressed Class League,

. * 1967–1970 Member, 4th Lok Sabha. * 1967–1970 Member of Informal Consultative Committee of Shipping and Transport of

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. * 1971–1977 Member, 5th Lok Sabha (2nd term). * 1977–1979 Member, 6th Lok Sabha (3rd term). * 1977–1978 President of Bharatiya Depressed Classes League. * 1977 Selected as General Secretary of

. * 1977–1979 Chairman of Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes of Parliament. * 1984–1989 Member, 8th Lok Sabha (4th term). * 1984–1989 Member of Railway Convention Committee of

. * 1989–1991 Member, 9th Lok Sabha (5th term). * 1990 Member of Consultative Committee, Ministry of Home Affairs. * 1990–1995 Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dhan, Ram India MPs 1967–1970 Indian people imprisoned during the Emergency (India) Lok Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh 2001 deaths Janata Dal politicians Janata Party politicians Indian National Congress politicians from Uttar Pradesh India MPs 1971–1977 India MPs 1977–1979 India MPs 1984–1989 India MPs 1989–1991 Politicians from Azamgarh district