Former President Shankar Dayal Sharma Biography: Remembering the 9th President and 8th Vice President of India on his 102nd birth anniversary

Shankar Dayal Sharma was the 9th President of India and has also served as the 8th Vice President of Indian under Ramaswamy Venkataraman, 8th President of India. Today is the 102nd birth anniversary of Shankar Dayal Sharma. 

President Kovind paid floral tributes to Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma, former President of India, on his birth anniversary at Rashtrapati Bhavan. pic.twitter.com/0mUNaiRI4E

— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) August 19, 2020

Indira Gandhi Biography: Birth, Family, Education, Political Career, Posthumus Awards, Legacy and more

Shankar Dayal Sharma: Birth, Family, Early Life and Education

Shankar Dayal Sharma was born on August 19, 1918, in the Princely State of Bhopal to Khushilal Sharma and Subhadra Sharma. He completed his education from Lucknow and Agra Universities and earned a doctorate in law at the University of Cambridge. In the year 1940, he started practising in Lucknow and joined Indian National Congress. 

Shankar Dayal Sharma: Political Career

He was actively involved in the Indian Independence movement. After India gained its Independence, the Nawab of Bhopal wished to retain the Princely State of Bhopal as a separate unit. In December 1948, Shankar Dayal Sharma led agitations against the Nawab and on January 23, 1949, the Nawab imprisoned him for a period of 8 months for violating restrictions on public meetings. On April 30, 1949, the Nawab released him and signed the agreement for merger with the Indian Union. 

In the year 1952, at the age of 34, Shankar Dayal Sharma became the Chief Minister of Bhopal. He was also the youngest Chief Minister at that time. Sharma served the state until its reorganization in the year 1956-- Bhopal merged with other states to form the present state of Madhya Pradesh with Bhopal as its capital. 

In 1971, he won the Lok Sabha seat from Bhopal Constituency. In 1972, he was elected as the President of All India Congress Committee (AICC). During 1974-77, he served as the Union Minister for Communications. In 1980, he won the Lok Sabha seat from Bhopal Constituency for the second time. In the year 1984, he began serving as a Governor of Andhra Pradesh. 

When he was serving as a Governor there, his daughter (Gitanjali Maken) and son in law (Lalit Maken) were murdered by Sikh militants. His son in law was a Member of Parliament. In the year 1985, he left the state of Andhra Pradesh and started serving the state of Punjab as its Governor, during the violent clashes between Indian Government and the Sikh Militants. 
In 1986, he left Punjab and started serving as the Governor of Maharashtra till 1987. In 1987, he was elected as the 8th Vice President of India under R. Venkataraman, the 8th President of India. He was also the Chairman of Rajya Sabha. At that time, Rajiv Gandhi and V.P. Singh served as the Prime Ministers of the country. 

In the year 1992, he served as the 9th President of India till 1997. At that time, P.V. Narasimha Rao, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, H.D. Deve Gowda and I.K Gujral served as the Prime Minister of the country. He didn't run for the second term as a President. He remained loyal to Congress in his entire life.  

Shankar Dayal Sharma: Poetry

In the 1970s, Shankar Dayal Sharma wrote famous poetry on the Quran, which is as follows: 

Amal ki kitab thi.

Dua ki kitab bana dia.

Samajhne ki kitab thi.

Parhne ki kitab bana dia.

Zindaon ka dastoor tha.

Murdon ka manshoor bana dia.

Jo ilm ki kitab thi.

Usay la ilmon ke hath thama dia.

Taskheer-e-kayenaat ka dars denay aayi thi.

Sirf madrason ka nisaab bana dia.

Murda mumalik ko zinda karne aayi thi.

Murdon ko bakhshwane per laga dia.

Aye Muslimeen ye tum nay kia kiya?

Shankar Dayal Sharma: Death

On December 26, 1999, Shankar Dayal Sharma died due to a cardiac arrest in a hospital in New Delhi, at the age of 81 years. He was ill from the last 5 years. He was cremated at Karma Bhumi.