Shankar Dayal Sharma

Sharma was born on 19 August 1918 in Bhopal, in present-day Madhya Pradesh. The Vice-President’s Office records his father as Khushilal Sharma Vaidya Shastri and his spouse as Vimala Sharma. According to the President’s Secretariat, he completed his early education in Bhopal and took a Master’s degree in law from Agra University. He then studied at the University of Cambridge, where he received a doctorate in law, and later at Harvard Law School. He was called to the Bar from Lincoln’s Inn in London. The Vice-President’s Office lists his qualifications as M.A., LL.M. and a Cambridge Ph.D., together with a diploma in public administration from London.

Sharma entered public life in Bhopal. He was a member of the Bhopal Legislative Assembly from 1952 to 1956 and Chief Minister of the former Bhopal State for the same period. From 1956 he sat in the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly until 1971 and served as a minister in the state government from 1956 to 1967. The President’s Secretariat’s profile gives a different period for his chief ministership; this profile follows the dates in the Vice-President’s Office record.

Sharma was elected to the Lok Sabha and served as a member from 1971 to 1977 and again from 1980 to 1984. From 1974 to 1977 he was Union Minister for Communications. He then held three governorships in succession: Andhra Pradesh from 1984 to 1985, Punjab from 1985 to 1986 and Maharashtra from 1986 to 1987. He also chaired the international juries for the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding and the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development.

Sharma became Vice-President of India and ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha on 3 September 1987. He held both offices until 24 July 1992, the day before he took office as President. The President’s Secretariat’s profile gives 1984 as the year of his election, which conflicts with the Vice-President’s Office dates, so this profile uses the latter.

Sharma served as the ninth President of India from 25 July 1992 to 25 July 1997. The President’s Secretariat describes him as a noted writer and poet. His books included Congress Approach to International Affairs, Studies in Indo-Soviet Co-operation, Rule of Law and Role of Police, and Jawaharlal Nehru: The Maker of Modern Commonwealth. He received the Chakravarti Gold Medal for Social Service. He died on 26 December 1999.