Ajit Prasad Jain

Ajit Prasad Jain Biography

Ajit Prasad Jain was a politician from Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh. A former President of the U. P. Congress Committee, he was a parliamentarian and union minister under Jawaharlal Nehru’s ministry too. He also served as the third governor of Kerala for a short term (2 April 1965 - 6 February 1966). As a politician he was associated with Indian National Congress, and was a prominent Congress leader from Uttar Pradesh. He passed away on 2 January 1977 aged 75.

He was born in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh in 1902 into a middle-class family. He graduated from Lucknow University and also took his LL.B before he started his practice as a lawyer in 1926. But very soon he got drawn towards politics and national freedom struggle movement. He joined Indian National Congress. He took part in the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930 and served as an active member of the party afterwards. He served as a member of the U.P. Congress working committee and also the Secretary of Provincial Congress Committee.

He got elected from United Provinces in 1937 and was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary. He resigned the position two years later. He contested first Lok Sabha elections in 1952 and became a parliamentarian of India’s first Lok Sabha. He also joined Jawaharlal Nehru’s cabinet, who took the power as Prime Minister of India. He served as Ministry of Rehabilitation. He was elected to second Lok Sabha in 1957. During 1954-1959, he served as the Union Minister for Food and Agriculture in Nehru’s cabinet. He became President of the U.P. Congress Committee in May 1961.

He had difference in ideologies with then Congress president Purushottam Das Tandon, and submitted his resignation as well. However Nehru didn’t accept his resignation. Towards the end of his political career he served as the governor of Kerala. He got elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1967 and remained a member till 1975.

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Updated: July 09, 2016