Rana Rana may refer to: Astronomy * Rana (crater), a crater on Mars * Delta Eridani or Rana, a star Films * Rana (2012 film), an Indian Kannada-language action drama * Rana, a 1998 Telugu-language action film directed by A. Kodandarami Reddy * R ...

Chandra Singh (; 1931 – 1 August 2009), also known as Rana Chandar Singh, was a Pakistani politician and a federal minister. He was one of the founding members of the

Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is a political party in Pakistan and one of the three major List of political parties in Pakistan, Pakistani political parties alongside the Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. With a Cent ...

(PPP) and was elected to the

National Assembly of Pakistan The National Assembly of Pakistan, also referred to as ''Aiwān-ē-Zairīñ'', is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, with the upper house being the Senate of Pakistan, Senate. As of 2023, the National Assem ...

from

Umerkot Umerkot (Urdu: ; Dhatki language, Dhatki : عمرڪوٽ; Sindhi language, Sindhi: عمرڪوٽ; International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: Help:IPA/Hindi and Urdu, �mərkoːʈ formerly known as Amarkot) is a city in the Sindh province of Pakista ...

seven times with PPP between 1977 and 1999. He founded the Pakistan Hindu Party (PHP) in 1990.

Early life

Rana Chandra Singh was born in 1931 in Rana Jagir, 16 km from

Umarkot Umerkot (Urdu: ; Dhatki : عمرڪوٽ; Sindhi: عمرڪوٽ; IPA: �mərkoːʈ formerly known as Amarkot) is a city in the Sindh province of Pakistan. The Mughal emperor Akbar was born in Amarkot in 1542. The Hindu folk deities Pabuji and ...

, present-day

Umerkot District Umerkot District (Dhatki language, Dhatki: عمرکوٹ / عمرڪوٽ, , ), also known as Amarkot District, is a Districts of Pakistan, district in the southeastern part of Sindh province of Pakistan. The city of Umerkot is the capital of the dis ...

. He belonged to the Hindu

Sodha Sodha () is a Rajput clan residing in India and Pakistan. They are an off-shoot of the Parmar Rajputs and claims Agnivanshi descent. History They are off-shoot of Parmara Rajputs, who once controlled regions of Malwa and later North-West p ...

clan of Rajputs and was the

(chieftain) of the

Amarkot Umerkot (Urdu: ; Dhatki language, Dhatki : عمرڪوٽ; Sindhi language, Sindhi: عمرڪوٽ; International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: Help:IPA/Hindi and Urdu, �mərkoːʈ formerly known as Amarkot) is a city in the Sindh province of Pakista ...

(Umerkot) ''

jagir A jagir (), ( Hindustani: जागीर/جاگیر, ''Jāgīr''), ( Marathi: जहागीर, ''Jahāgīrá'') also spelled as jageer, was a type of feudal land grant in the Indian subcontinent at the foundation of its Jagirdar ( Zamindar ...

'', a

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 ...

estate in Pakistan.

Career

He was a close friend of

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979) was a Pakistani barrister and politician who served as the fourth president of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973 and later as the ninth Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan from 19 ...

and

Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto (21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990, and again from 1993 to 1996. She was also the first woman elected to head a democratic governmen ...

, and was a founding member of the

. He was also elected as

MPA MPA or mPa may refer to: Academia Academic degrees * Master of Performing Arts * Master of Professional Accountancy * Master of Public Administration * Master of Public Affairs Schools * Mesa Preparatory Academy * Morgan Park Academy * M ...

seven times, serving as Minister of Science and Technology, Revenue and Narcotics Affairs. In 1990, he left PPP and formed his political party, the Pakistan Hindu Party (PHP). He designed for his party a saffron flag bearing two ancient logos – Om and Trishool. He served as Minister for Agriculture and Revenue and was the Chairman of the National Commission of Minorities. He won elections as an Independent candidate for a continuous 53 years – a considerable achievement for a minority Hindu. He had joined PPP after parting ways with

PML-Q The Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid e Azam Group) ; ''Pākistān Muslim Līg (Qāf)'', Acronym and initialism, Acronyms: PML(Q), PML-Q, PMLQ, "Q League" (officially registered as the Pakistan Muslim League) is a political party in Pakistan. As of ...

. He died on 1 August 2009 at the age of 78, after a prolonged illness, as he had suffered

paralysis Paralysis (: paralyses; also known as plegia) is a loss of Motor skill, motor function in one or more Skeletal muscle, muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory d ...

in 2004. Prime Minister

Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani Yusuf Raza Gilani (born 9 June 1952) is a Pakistani politician who served as the 16th Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan from 2008 to 2012. He is currently serving as the Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan since 2024. Chairma ...

, in a message to his family, expressed grief over the death of former federal minister, while President

Asif Ali Zardari Asif Ali Zardari (born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician serving as the 14th president of Pakistan since 2024, having held the same office from 2008 to 2013. He is the president of Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians and was the ...

described him as "one of the fearless political activists who joined the party in the early days of its formation by Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and who stood by him through thick and thin". His body was taken to his native village, Rana Jagir, 16 km from

, for cremation, where earlier, his elder son

Rana Hamir Singh Rana Hamir Singh is a Pakistani politician who had been a member of Provincial Assembly of Sindh from August 2018 to August 2023.Tharparkar Tharparkar (Dhatki language, Dhatki/; , ), also known as Thar, is a district in Sindh province in Pakistan, headquartered at Mithi. Before Indian independence it was known as the Thar and Parkar (1901⁠–⁠1947) or Eastern Sindh Frontier Distr ...

's Thakurs. According to Waseem Altaf, a retired Pakistani bureaucrat, ''"whenever the Cabinet was given a defense-related briefing, Rana Chandra Singh was asked to leave the Cabinet Room."''

Personal life

He was married to Rani Sahiba Subhadra Kumari, daughter of Rawat Tej Singh of

Rawatsar Rawatsar is a city, a municipality, and one of the seven tehsils in Hanumangarh district in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is divided into 35 wards for which elections are held every five years. History Establishment by Raghodas Raw ...

in Hanumangarh district of

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

. They have four sons and one daughter.

References

External links

Rendezvous with Rana

Umerkot Fort

History & GENEALOGY of Umerkot Jagir
{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Rana Chandra 1931 births 2009 deaths Pakistani Hindus Thari people Federal ministers of Pakistan People from Umerkot Pakistani MNAs 1977 Pakistani MNAs 1985–1988 Pakistani MNAs 1988–1990 Pakistani MNAs 1990–1993 Pakistani MNAs 1993–1996 Pakistani MNAs 1997–1999 Sindhi Hindus Pakistan People's Party MPAs (Sindh)