Sahib Singh Verma

Sahib Singh Verma (15 March 1943 – 30 June 2007)^{[citation needed]} was an Indian politician.^[1] He served as the 4th Chief Minister of Delhi (1996–1998) and was member of 13th Lok Sabha, Parliament of India (1999–2004).^[2] He served as the Union Labour Minister of India.^[3]

Sahib Singh Verma
Union Minister of Labour
In office 1 July 2002 – 22 May 2004
Prime Minister	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Preceded by	Sharad Yadav
Succeeded by	Shish Ram Ola
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 6 October 1999 – 13 May 2004
Preceded by	Krishan Lal Sharma
Succeeded by	Sajjan Kumar
Constituency	Outer Delhi
4th Chief Minister of Delhi
In office 27 February 1996 – 12 October 1998
Preceded by	Madan Lal Khurana
Succeeded by	Sushma Swaraj
Cabinet Minister Government of Delhi
In office 2 December 1993 – 26 February 1996
Chief Minister	Madan Lal Khurana
Ministry & Department's	Welfare Labour Tourism Employment
Member of Delhi Legislative Assembly
In office November 1993 – November 1998
Preceded by	constituency established
Succeeded by	Ravinder Nath Bansal
Constituency	Shalimar Bagh
Councillor, Delhi Metropolitan Council
In office 1977–1990
Personal details
Born	(1943-03-15)15 March 1943 Delhi, British India
Died	30 June 2007(2007-06-30) (aged 64) Jonaicha Khurd, Rajasthan, India
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party
Spouse	Sahib Kaur ​ (m. 1954)​
Children	5 (including Parvesh Verma, Siddharth Verma)
Residence	Delhi

Life

Sahib Singh Verma was born on 15 March 1943 in Mundka village of Delhi to Chaudhary Mir Singh Lakra, a zamindar, and Bharpai Devi in a Jat family.^[4][5] He had 2 brothers Azad Singh Verma and Attar Singh Verma. He was influenced by Arya Samaj from an early age.^{[citation needed]}

Singh had a PhD degree in Library Science, and started work as librarian in Bhagat Singh College, Delhi.^[6] He held a master's degree in Arts, (M.A.) and also in Library Science from Aligarh Muslim University.^[7]

He was married to Sahib Kaur and had two sons and three daughters. One of his sons, Parvesh Verma is serving as Member of Delhi Legislative Assembly from New Delhi.^[8][9]

Political career

He was active in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.^[10] He had also served the World Jat Aryan Foundation, as its president.^[11]

The Union Minister for Human Resource Development Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi presenting "Best Employer's Award - 2003" to one of the awardees at a function, in New Delhi on 3 December 2003 (Wednesday). The Union Minister for Labour Dr. Sahib Singh Verma is also seen.

In 1977 he was elected to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and took the Oath as a Councillor by the hands of Guru Radha Kishan. Initially he won as a Janata Party candidate and was re-elected on a BJP ticket. He became the Education and Development Minister in the Delhi government in 1993.^[12]

In 1996, after Madan Lal Khurana was embroiled in a corruption crisis, Sahib Singh became the Chief Minister of Delhi.^[13] Singh served as CM for two and a half years, facing increasing rivalry from Khurana.^[14] 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.^[10] 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.^[14] He was defeated in the 2004 polls.

He died in a road accident in Rajasthan in 2007.^[15]

See also

• Verma cabinet