Shankar Dayal Sharma Biography 
Shankar Dayal Sharma was the ninth President of India and served in this position from 1992 to 1997. He was the eighth Vice President of India during the tenure of the President R. Venkataraman. He also served as the Chief Minister and Cabinet Minister and handled the portfolios of education, law, public works, industry and commerce, national resources and separate revenue. He served as the President of Indian National Congress from 1972 to 1974 and as the Union Minister of Communications from 1974 to 1977.
He was born on 19th August 1918 in a Brahmin family from Bhopal. He studied at St. John’s College in Agra in Punjab University, in Lucknow University and in Fitzwilliam College at Cambridge University. He got his Ph.D in Law at Cambridge University. He received the Chakravarti Gold Medal for Social Service by Lucknow University. Then he started his career by teaching law at Lucknow University and at Cambridge University from 1946 to 1947. When at Cambridge he was the Treasurer of the Tagore Society and Cambridge Majlis. He was honored with the Doctorate of Law degree from University of Cambridge. He married Vimala Sharma.
He took part in Indian Independence Movement in 1940s. Then he joined National Congress and in 1952 he became the Chief Minister of Bhopal and was in this position until 1956. Later Bhopal merged with other states to form the state of Madhya Pradesh. He supported Indira Gandhi and served in her cabinet as the Minister of Communication from 1974 to 1977. He was elected from Bhopal to Lok Sabha in 1980 and in 1984 he started to serve as the governor of the Indian states first in Andhra Pradesh.
His daughter Geetanjali Maken and son-in-law Lalit Maken who was the member of the parliament at that time were killed by Sikh militants. He left Andhra Pradesh in 1985 and became the governor of Punjab and in 1986 he left Punjab and started to serve as the governor of Maharashtra. In 1987 he was elected as the eighth Vice-President of India and the Chairman of Rajya Sabha. In 1992 he was elected as the President of India. He died on 26th December 1999.
Published: N/A
Updated: January 14, 2013
