Dinesh Singh (politician, born 1925)

This article is about member of parliament. For member of Punjab Legislative Assembly, see Dinesh Singh (Punjab politician).

Raja Dinesh Singh (19 July 1925 – 30 November 1995) was an Indian politician. His family is from Kalakankar. He served as a Member of Parliament on several occasions, and twice served as the Minister of External Affairs of India.^[1]

Raja Dinesh Singh
Union Minister of External Affairs
In office 1969–1970
Prime Minister	Indira Gandhi
Preceded by	Indira Gandhi (Acting)
Succeeded by	Sardar Swaran Singh
In office 1993–1995
Prime Minister	P. V. Narasimha Rao
Preceded by	P. V. Narasimha Rao (Acting)
Succeeded by	Pranab Mukherjee
Union Ministry of Water Resources
In office 14 February 1988 – 25 June 1988
Prime Minister	Rajiv Gandhi
Preceded by	Ram Niwas Mirdha
Succeeded by	B. Shankaranand
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 1967–1977
Preceded by	Ajit Pratap Singh
Succeeded by	Roop Nath Singh Yadav
Constituency	Pratapgarh
In office 1984–1991
Preceded by	Ajit Pratap Singh
Succeeded by	Abhay Pratap Singh
Constituency	Pratapgarh
Pretender information
Title(s)	Raja of Kalakankar
Throne(s) claimed	Kalakankar
Pretend from	1971–1995
Monarchy abolished	Sovereign Monarchy 1947 (Instrument of Accession) Titular Monarchy 1971 (26th Amendment of the Indian Constitution)
Last monarch	Himself
Successor	Vacant
Raja of Kalakankar
Reign	1933–1947
Predecessor	Raja Awadhesh Singh
Titular Reign	1947–1971
Born	(1925-07-19)19 July 1925 Kalakankar, United Provinces, British India
Died	30 November 1995(1995-11-30) (aged 70) Delhi, India
Spouse	Neelima Kumari
Father	Raja Awadhesh Singh
Alma mater	University of Lucknow The Doon School
Political party	Indian National Congress
Children	6 (including Rajkumari Ratna Singh)

Early life and education

Dinesh Singh was born on 19 July 1925, to Raja Awadhesh Singh, the taluqdar, or landed nobleman, of Kalakankar in Uttar Pradesh. He was educated at The Doon School, Dehradun and at Lucknow University.^[2]

Political career

In 1962-66 he was Deputy Minister in the Ministry of External Affairs 1962–66, Minister of State 1966–67, and Minister of Commerce 1967-69 and 1988–89, Minister of Industrial Development and Internal Trade 1970–71. He was Minister of External Affairs 1969-70^[3] and 1993–1995.

He was elected from Pratapgarh for seven terms from the Second Lok Sabha (1957–62), to the Fifth Lok Sabha (1971–77), and then again for the Eighth^[4] and Ninth Lok Sabha 1984–1991, serving in the Rajya Sabha in the interregnum.

Personal life

He married Neelima Kumari of the Tehri-Garhwal ruling family, in 1944, and had six daughters. His sixth daughter is Ratna Singh, who was also a member of Lok Sabha from the same Pratapgarh constituency.

He died on 30 November 1995 in New Delhi, due to various diseases. At the time of his death, he was a minister without portfolio in the Cabinet headed by P. V. Narasimha Rao.

See also

• Brajesh Singh, uncle of Dinesh Singh.