Sahib Singh Verma

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Sahib Singh Verma
Born March 15, 1943(1943-03-15)
Flag of India Delhi, India
Died June 30, 2007 (aged 64)
Flag of India Rājasthān, India
Cause of death Car accident
Residence Flag of India India
Political party Bharatiya Janata Party
Religious beliefs Hindu
Children 2 sons, 3 daughters

Sahib Singh Verma (b.March 15, 1943, Mundka Village, Outer Delhi, d.June 30, 2007) was an Indian politician of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He served as Chief Minister of Delhi (1996-1998) and as member of parliament (1999-2004)[1]. He was a senior vice-president in the BJP[2].

He died on June 30, 2007, when his car collided with a truck on the Alwar-Delhi highway.

Contents

[edit] Life

Verma was born on March 15, 1943 in Mundka village, Delhi, to Mir Singh, a Jat farmer, and Bharpai Devi.

He began his socio-political journey as a volunteer in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and later climbed the ranks in politics.

He has a Ph.D. degree in Library Science, and started work as librarian in Bhagat Singh College, Delhi[3]. He also holds a master's degree in Arts, and also in Library Science.

Married in 1954 to Sahib Kaur, he has two sons and three daughters[1].

[edit] Political career

He was first elected to the Municipal Council of Delhi on a Janata Party ticket in 1977, and was later re-elected on a BJP ticket. He became the Education and Development Minister in the Delhi government in 1993. In 1996, after Madan Lal Khurana was embroiled in a corruption crisis, Sahib Singh became the Chief Minister of Delhi[4] despite Khurana being acquitted by the courts. Singh served as CM for two and a half years, facing increasing rivalry from Khurana[5]. Following an onion price crisis, he was replaced by Sushma Swaraj.

Subsequently, he won the Lok Sabha elections, 1999 from Outer Delhi with a margin of over two lakh votes[6]. In 2002, he became Minister of Labour in the Vajpayee government, and was known as "bull in a China shop" for standing up against the bureaucrats against lowering the Provident Fund interest rate[5]. However, he was defeated in the 2004 polls.

Verma was respected among the teacher community of Delhi. He was the owner of a national Hindi daily newspaper called Haribhumi.

He died in a road accident in Rajasthan. Verma was returning to Delhi after laying a foundation stone for a school in Neem Ka Thana in Sikar district.


Preceded by
Madan Lal Khurana		 Chief Minister of Delhi
1996–1997		 Succeeded by
Sushma Swaraj

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Biographical Sketch Member of Parliament 13th Lok Sabha.
  2. ^ List of Office Bearers. BJP. Retrieved on 2007-07-01.
  3. ^ "Former Delhi CM Sahib Singh Verma dies in road accident", Deccan Herald, June 30, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-04. 
  4. ^ The Hindu, [1]
  5. ^ a b "Sahib Singh Verma dies in road accident", Zee News, June 30, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-04. 
  6. ^ Swarup, Harihar. "Long-standing rivals now compete for Cabinet berths", Tribune India, October 10, 1999. 

http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Jun302007/national2007063010305.asp?section=updatenews

[edit] External links