Tribhuvan Narain Singh

Tribhuvan Narain Singh (8 August 1904 – 3 August 1982) was an Indian politician and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He remained Chief Minister from 18 October 1970 till 4 April 1971. Singh later served as Governor of West Bengal from the late 1970s until 1981. He was born and died in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. He also served as the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee and as Union Minister of Industry and Steel.

A graduate from Kashi Vidyapeeth, He was a member of first and second Lok Sabha, lower house of Indian Parliament from Chandauli constituency.

In October 1970, Sanyukta Vikas Dal was formed by Organization Congress, Jan Sangh and Swatantra Party and Bharatiya Kranti Dal, thus gaining majority in Uttar Pradesh house Assembly. They selected T. N. Singh of Congress (O) to be their leader and thus he became Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He was Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh from October 1970 to April 1971. One case, namely Har Sharan Verma vs Tribhuvan Narain Singh was decided by a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court in 1971. In that case, the petitioner challenged the appointment of T N Singh as chief minister of UP as at the time of his appointment he was not a member of the legislature of UP. The petitioner contended that Art. 164(4) should be confined to a case where a minister who is a member of the legislature of the state loses his seat. The idea behind Art. 164(4), he argued, was to give him a period of six months to get himself re-elected. He further contended that Art. 164(4) applied only to a minister and not to the chief minister. The constitutional bench of the Supreme Court, after referring to the constituent assembly debates, English practices and to similar provisions in the Australian constitution and South African constitution of 1909, concluded that Art. 164(4) allows a person to be appointed chief minister, who at the time of such appointment is not a member of the legislature of the state concerned. Tribhuvan Narain Singh hence, became the first Chief Minister to be appointed without being a member of either house of the state legislature.Ram Prakash Gupta is only the second person to become chief minister of Uttar Pradesh after Tribhuvan Narain Singh (in October 1970) without being a member of either house of the state legislature.

He also served as the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee and as Union Minister of Industry and Steel. Singh later served as Governor of West Bengal from the late 1970s until 1981.

Positions held

Tribhuvan Narain Singh was a member of the planning commission for drafting of the Third Five Year Plan.

He also served as the Chancellor of the Calcutta University from the year 1977 to 1980, as Governor of Bengal is Chancellor of the Calcutta University. He was preceded by Anthony Lancelot Dias and succeeded by Bhairab Datt Pande.