East Punjab The years that Birendra Singh spent at St. Stephen's college were the early years of India's independence. The college was situated in
New Delhi, the very hub of political activity, and Birendra Singh was drawn to politics by the environment. The first elections in free India were held in 1952 and Birendra Singh contested as an independent candidate from his native Ahirwal region, of which the city of
Rewari is the urban center. He lost that election because there were many twists and turns of the politics in the Ahirwal region. Birendra Singh then joined the
Congress Party. Rather than contest elections to the State Legislative Assembly, he got nominated to the State Legislative Council, which is the upper house of the state legislature. His clipped accent and very progressive views were admired by Nehru and many. His royal background and leadership skills helped Nehru in dealing with more recalcitrant royals from the princely states. Thus, Birendra Singh became a member of the State Legislature of the Indian state of undivided Punjab, known informally as
East Punjab, without winning an election. He would serve as a nominated member for two successive terms (a total of 12 years) until 1966. During these years, he was made a minister in the
Pratap Singh Kairon government and held charge, at various times, of several important ministries like
PWD, Irrigation, Power, Revenue and Consolidation, etc.
Creation of Haryana When India became independent in 1947, the old province of
Punjab was
partitioned and
East Punjab was retained by
India. Several
Princely states located on the plains of East Punjab were merged to create the state of
PEPSU. Several other princely states in the hills of East Punjab were similarly merged to create the Chief Commissioners' Province of
Himachal. The portion which had been directly ruled by the British (rather than by the Maharajas of various princely states) became a third, separate state and received the name
Punjab. The Ahirwal region and
Rewari lay within this state of
Punjab (India), and Birendra Singh was a minister in this state. In the period 1956–66, the three political entities described above were merged and de-merged so that finally, in 1966, the political map of the region as it stands today emerged. The final step in this process of re-organization was the separation of the
Hindi-speaking areas of Punjab into the new state of
Haryana, and the creation of the
Union Territory of
Chandigarh to serve as the common capital of both states. This was accomplished after some acrimony and political maneuvering. Rao Birendra Singh played a prominent role in this process of division. He did so because Ahirwal/
Rewari was a Hindi-speaking area in the near vicinity of
Delhi and he felt that the Hindi-speaking people of undivided Punjab were not getting their just due in the political dispensation. Therefore, beginning 1962, he spearheaded the campaign for division and achieved success when the state of Haryana was born in November 1966.
Defection from Congress After the formation of Haryana in November 1966, Bhagwat Dayal Sharma became Haryana's first Chief Minister, and Birendra Singh was elected the first speaker of the Haryana assembly which was a spin-off from the Punjab Assembly. The first-ever poll to Haryana Vidhan Sabha was held in March 1967. Birender Singh was elected a member of the
Haryana Legislative Assembly from the
Pataudi assembly constituency as Congress Party's candidate. However, he established the
Vishal Haryana Party immediately by defecting from Congress with many MLAs. He was appointed Chief Minister of Haryana on 24March 1967, replacing
Bhagwat Dayal Sharma with his newly formed VHP assuming power. But the assembly was dissolved, and Haryana placed under President's rule, in November 1967. Congress won the Vidhan Sabha election in 1968 and Bansi Lal became Chief Minister. Birender Singh's VHP came creditable second to Congress in the election. He was elected to the
5th Lok Sabha in 1971 from the
Mahendragarh on the Vishal Haryana Party ticket.
Later career In 1977 general election he lost his Mahendragarh Seat as Vishal Haryana Party Candidate. In September 1978 he merged this party with the Congress. In 1980, he was re-elected to the
7th Lok Sabha and he played a prominent role in the formation of the Congress Government in the centre. He served in
Ninth Cabinet of India as Cabinet
Minister of Agriculture (India), Food, Rural development, Irrigation, and Civil supply. In 1984, he was re-elected to the
8th Lok Sabha from
Mahendragarh (Lok Sabha constituency) and became a part of the
10th ministry of India under prime minister
Rajiv Gandhi. He later resigned from both the Congress party and the Lok Sabha in 1989 on the issue of
Bofors scandal. He joined Janata Dal and was elected to 9th Loksabha in 1989, and became Cabinet minister in the Chander Shekhar's Govt. In 1991 General election he lost Mahendragarh seat.In 1996 General election he contested as INC candidate and lost. He left active politics after 1996. Rao Birender Singh died on 30 September 2009 at the age of 89. ==Army career==