Vishwanath Pratap Singh

Vishwanath Pratap Singh (died on 27 November 2008), was an Indian politician and government official, the 7th Prime Minister of India from 1989 to 1990. Singh is known for trying to improve the lot of India's lower castes as a Prime Minister.

Singh was in a Rajput zamindar family ruling the Manda estate on 25 June 1931. He obtained his education from Colonel Brown Cambridge School, Dehra Dun and studied at Allahabad and Pune universities.Singh became a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh in 1969 as a member of the Congress Party. He got elected to the Lok Sabha in 1971 and was appointed a Deputy Minister of Commerce by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1974. He served as the Minister of Commerce in 1976-77.

He was appointed by Indira Gandhi as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1980, when Gandhi was re-elected after the Janata interlude.As Chief Minister (1980-82), he cracked down hard on dacoitry, a problem that was particularly severe in the rural districts of the south-west Uttar Pradesh. He resumed his post as Minister of Commerce in 1983. Singh was responsible for managing the coalition of the Left and BJP against Rajiv Gandhi to dethrone him in the 1989 elections.