Arjun Singh, the missing MP Chief Minister during Bhopal Gas tragedy

Arjun Singh was a veteran politician of the Indian National Congress party. He was a former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh besides beiing the Union Minister for Human Resource Development in the Manmohan Singh cabinet from 2004 to 2009.Singh was an ambitious leader and was once a Congress bigwig. He was a strong supporter of Indira Gandhi. Arjun Singh believed that power can overcome many handicaps. He was completely loyal to the Nehru-Gandhi clan.He died in 2011 following cardiac arrest. Ajun Singh is till remembered for his display of pure loyalty and dedication to the Gandhi family.His name also crops up whenever people reminisce the ‘Bhopal Gas tragedy'. Arjun Singh was the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh when the deadly gas leak from the Union Carbide factory occurred. He escaped to his Kerwa Dam palace near Bhopal to save himself from the damages of the chemicals. Let us know more about him.Arjun Singh was born to a Rajput family in Sidhi in Madhya Pradesh to Rao Shiv Bahadur Singh.His father was also a Congressman and Minister of Industry under Jawaharlal Nehru's government.Hence as Arjun grew up he knew exactly where he wanted to be. Politics was in his blood.On entering politics at an early age, he married Saroj Devi, a girl from Satna in MP.The couple was blessed with two sons and a daughter. While one of their sons, Abhimanyu Singh is a businessman in Bangalore, his younger son Ajay Singh followed his father's footsteps and ventured into politics. Ajay is currently Leader of Opposition in MP State Assembly. Singh's daughter Veena, tried her luck in politics but failed.Owing to his father's political standing, Arjun Singh glided through smoothly into politics and was also a minister in the P V Narasimha Ro cabinet.But after the Babri structure was demolished by some Hindu volunteers in 1992 he resigned as a cabinet minister in protest. After submitting his resignation, Singh formed the All India Indira Congress (Tiwari) along with Narayan Dutt Tiwari, former Union minister and ex-CM of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand as President. His party lost the Lok Sabha Elections of 1996 and the Congress party met its fall too.He then re-united with the Congress party. But unfortunately he lost again from Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh. Being pro Nehru-Gandhi clan has numerous advantages. Despite his defeat, he was selected for the Chief Minister's post of Madhya Pradesh three times consistently.Arjun Singh was also made the Governor of Punjab for a short while.As a governor he tried to bring about peace in Punjab and worked for Rajiv- Longwal Accord (signed by Rajiv Gandhi and Harchand Singh Longowal on 24 July 1985).In 2000 he was awarded the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award.Arjun Singh was the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh when the deadly gas leak from the Union Carbide factory occurred.It is widely alleged that on the fateful night between 2 and 3 December 1984, when the gas leak occurred, Arjun Singh fled to his Kerwa Dam palace to save himself from deadly effects of leaked gas.He was not where he should have been to lead the administration as chaos prevailed in the state.Arjun Singh's lack of concern was criticized by the media and the court.While Arjun Singh was the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, he was involved in the scandal called the Churhat Lottery case. The Churhat Children Welfare Society was floated in 1982 by relatives of Singh.The donations to the society included Rs 150,000 from Union Carbide. It was alleged that these funds were used for Singh's personal benefits.Arjun Singh was accused of irregularities and corruption in the grant of Deemed University status to private for-profit educational institutions which did not meet requisite educational standards, during his tenure as Minister for Human Resources Development.The Government of India initiated proceedings to repeal the “Deemed University” status of 44 such institutions in Jan 2010.Singh died on 4 March 2011, at the age of 80. He had been admitted in Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) with chest and neurological problems and died of a heart attack