Chaudhary Charan Singh (23 December 1902 – 29 May 1987) was the sixth Prime Minister of India of the Republic of India, serving from 28 July 1979 until 14 January 1980.
Born into a Jat people family in 1902 Charan Singh entered politics as part of the Independence Movement. After independence he became particularly notable in the 1950s for opposing and winning a battle against Nehru's socialistic and collectivist land use policies, for the sake of the Indian farmer. Popular particularly among his native Jat community, his political base was Western Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, where that community was dominant. He was from Noorpur in western Uttar Pradesh in Tewatia clan Jat family. Like Sir Chhotu Ram, he came from a rural, peasant family and went on to become a lawyer. Both promoted the concept of a united rural community, encompassing not only the Jats, but others as well. And both shared a concern about the exploitative nature of the brahman-bania combine.

Chaudhary Charan Singh
Contents
1 Early life
2 Independent India
3 References
4 See also

Early life
Charan Singh's ancestors were the kinsmen of prominent freedom-fighter of the revolt of 1857, Maharaja Nahar Singh of Ballbhgarh (in present day Haryana). Raja Nahar Singh was sent to the gallows in Chandni Chowk of Delhi. In order to escape the oppression the British Government let loose on Raja's followers, Charan Singh's grandfather moved eastward to district Bulandshaher in Uttar Pradesh.
Charan Singh was born on 23 December 1902 in town Noorpur, district Bijnor of Uttar Pradesh in a peasant's home in poverty. He was a good student, and got degree of Masters in Arts in 1925, and the degree of Law in 1926.
In 1929 he joined the Indian National Congress. He was jailed several times in the struggle for Indian independence. He served in the United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh) state assembly from 1937 on.
In February 1937 he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh (United Provinces) at the age of 34. In 1938 he introduced an Agricultural Produce Market Bill in the Assembly which was published in the issues of The Hindustan Times of Delhi dated 31 March 1938. The Bill was intended to safeguard the interests of the farmers against the rapacity of the traders. The Bill was adopted by most of the States in India, Punjab being the first state to do so in 1940. Thus His political career began through the Congress ranks, supporting tenant rights. Working against the vein of early Congress policy and fighting formidable landlord influence, he mobilised support for peasant ownership of land, implemented reforms, and prevented tax increases on farmers. He worked to make farmers into an aggressive political force.
Charan Singh followed Mahatma Gandhi in non-violent struggle for independence from the British Government, and was imprisoned several times. In 1930 he was sent to jail for 6 months by the British for contravention of Salt laws. He was jailed again for one year in November 1940 for individual Satyagraha Movement. In August 1942 he was jailed again by the British under DIR and released in November 1943.
Independent India
In 1952, he became the Revenue Minister of state of Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in independent India. He was dedicated to enforcing and implementing the provisions of the Zamindari Abolition and Land Reform Act of which he was the major architect. It has been argued by leading political scientists that success of Indian Democracy lies in successful implementation of this reform. Pakistan on the other hand did not have similar reforms, and the power is concentrated amongst the few powerful landlords or Zamindar who run their lands as their private fiefdom, and use their influence to further their wealth.
Charan Singh opposed Nehru on his Soviet Style Economic reform. Charan Singh was of the opinion that cooperative farms would not succeed in India. Being a son of a farmer, Charan Singh opined that the right of ownership was important to the farmer in remaining a cultivator. Charan Singh's political career suffered due to his open criticism of Nehru's economic policy. In 1950's, no one questioned Nehru in India.
Chaudhary Charan Singh became an architect of India's national system of agrarian alliances. He brought about the Jat-Muslim political alliance in late 1960s when he was the Chief Minister of UP. He became the chief minister of the state in 67-68 and again in 70.
Charan Singh left the Congress party in 1967, and formed his own political party. He had two short stints as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1967, and later in 1970. In 1975, he was jailed again, but this time by then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, daughter of his former rival Nehru. She had declared the state of 'Emergency' and jailed all her political opponents. The Indian populace voted her out, and the opposition party, of which Chaudhary Charan Singh was a senior leader came into power.
He remained committed to the ideal of a homogeneous and inclusive rural bloc. However, unlike Sir Chhotu Ram, he was a product of Jat cultural assertion and the Arya Samaj movement and hence did not use caste as a rallying point. According to him, the Jat interest lay with the interests of the countryside.
In 1977 he allied his peasant and agricultural based Indian Revolutionary Party with the Janata Party of Morarji Desai and served as home minister (1977-78) and deputy prime minister (1979) in Desai's coalition government.In July 1979 he became the Prime Minister of India with Congress support. But he resigned shortly afterwards, without facing a trust vote, when Indira Gandhi withdrew support. His speech to the nation on India's Independence Day (August 15, 1979 ) was very prophetic in which he identified Pakistan's nuclear ambition as a major threat to India. He also mentioned that Indian labour laws had to be refined if India were to become competitive in world economy. He also opened high level diplomatic relations with Israel, which Indira Gandhi's government which took office following the 1980 elections curtailed.'
He never held high office again. However, one must remember that he was the first peasant (and the first Jat) to achieve that position. It was not until 1989, when Chaudhary Devi Lal became the deputy PM, that one occupied as significant a role in national politics.
Though he was seen by the Jats of western UP as their benefactor, it would be unfair to call him merely a Jat leader. He is much better described as a rural leader, whose support base transcended all rural communities.
Chaudhary Charan Singh died on May 29, 1987 in New Delhi where he was cremated at Kisan Ghat. He was survived by his wife, Gayatri Devi, four daughters(Satya, Vedvati, Gyanvati, Sharda) and one son, Ajit Singh.
Charan Singh has written several books. Some of them are:
India's Economic Policy - The Gandhian Blueprint
Economic Nightmare of India - Its Cause and Cure
Cooperative Farming X-rayed