Shankar Dayal Sharma. was a lawyer and a politician, who served as the the ninth president of the country, from 1992 to 1997.
On 26 December 1999, Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma died due to a massive heart attack in New Delhi at the age of 81. His samadhi lies at Karma Bhumi in Delhi.
Early Life
Born on August 19, 1918 in Bhopal. Sharma pursued his higher education at Agra and Lucknow universities. After earning a doctorate in law at the University of Cambridge, he attended Lincoln’s Inn in London and Harvard University.
In 1940, Shankar began his legal practice in Lucknow. He was also involved in the struggle for Indian independence from British colonial rule and joined the Indian National Congress and remained loyal for the rest of his life.
Political Career
Dr, Sharma also served as the Chief Minister of Bhopal State from 1952 to 1956. He was the President of the Indian National Congress from 1972 to 1974.
From 1974, he served in the union cabinet as the Minister for Communications 1974 to 1977. In 1987, he was elected for a 5-year term as the eighth Vice-President of India and chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
He was appointed the governor of Andhra Pradesh in 1984. After elections in Punjab, in the wake of the Longowal-Rajiv accord between the prime minister and the Akali Dal president, Sharma was made the governor of Punjab in 1985.
He then became the eighth vice-president of India and ex-officio Chairman of Rajya Sabha from September 3, 1987, till he assumed the office of the president in 1992. He served in this vaunted position till 1997.
Sharma- The sentimental politician
Sharma was a sentimental public leader who sometimes broke down in Parliament before unruly lawmakers. He once said he believed in retaliating by shaming offenders with acts of kindness.
In 1990, while he was vice president and was presiding over the upper house of Parliament at time of turmoil, he broke into tears and left the hall, saying that he could not be a party to "the murder of democracy."
Death
On 26 December 1999, Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma suffered a massive heart attack and was admitted to a hospital in New Delhi, where he died at the age of 81.
