Ram Subhag Singh (7 July 1917 – 16 December 1980)''Data India'', Press Institute of India, 1981 was an Indian politician who was a member of 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 served as a member of the 3rd and 4th

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 ...

for

Bikramganj Bikramganj is a ''nagar parishad'' city and community development block in Rohtas district, Bihar, India. In the 2011 census, Bikramganj had a population of nearly 4 lakh in 17,968 households. The main commodities produced in Bikramganj are ri ...

and

Buxar Buxar is a nagar parishad city in the state of Bihar, India, sharing border with Balia and Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh. It is the headquarters of the eponymous Buxar district, as well as the headquarters of the community development ...

in the

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

state of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in 1962 and 1967, respectively. After the split in the Congress party in 1969, he stayed with the

Indian National Congress (Organisation) The Indian National Congress (Organisation) also known as Congress (O) or Syndicate/Old Congress was a political party in India formed when the Congress party split following the expulsion of Indira Gandhi. On 12 November 1969, the Prime Minist ...

. He was first leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha in 1969. He participated in the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

. He was a cabinet minister in the Union Government led by the Congress party.

Early life

Singh was born in July 1917 in Bhojpur district of the

State in India. He undertook his primary education at the Government Town School, Ara Bihar, and his secondary education at Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Singh went to the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

for completing his Ph.D. degree in journalism from the

Missouri School of Journalism The Missouri School of Journalism, housed under the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, Columbia, is one of the oldest formal journalism schools in the world. The school provides academic education and practical training in of journalis ...

Activism and politics

He participated in 1942 Quit India Movement along with

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

. He was close aid of Jawahar Lal Nehru and he fought Parliamentary Election in 1952 from Sasaram Constituency of Bihar State and elected as Member of Parliament in First Loksabha. In 1957 he again got elected to Parliament from same constituency. In 1962 he won parliamentary seat of Bikramganj constituency in Bihar. In 1967 he fought the general election for the buxar constituency and was elected to parliament for a 4th time.

Positions held

* Member of the Central Legislature for over 22 years consecutively. *Member of Parliament, 1948–1952. * Provisional Parliament, 1950–1952. * Member of Parliament, 1952–1957. * Agriculturist and Journalist; President, Shahabad District Canal (Nahar) Kisan Congress, 1952–1955. * Member of Parliament, 1957–1962. * Secretary, Congress party in Parliament, 1955–1962. * Union Minister of State for Food and Agriculture, 1962–1964. * Union Minister of Social Security & Cottage Industries, 9 June 1964 – 13 June 1964. * Union Minister of State for Railways, 1964–1967. * Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, 1967–1969. * Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology, 1967–1969. * Union Minister of Railways, 14 February 1969 – 4 November 1969. * He was India's first Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha from 1969–1970.

References

Lok Sabha
{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Ram Subhag 1917 births 1980 deaths India MPs 1962–1967 India MPs 1967–1970 Commerce and industry ministers of India Indian National Congress (Organisation) politicians Leaders of the opposition (India) Lok Sabha members from Bihar People from Buxar district People from Rohtas district Indian National Congress politicians from Bihar Indian independence activists from Bihar