20-05-2025
All-party delegations: Why a certain Amar Singh figures in BJP list for Congress
As the Congress and BJP traded charges over the Union government's choice of Congress leaders to be part of all-party delegations to be sent to foreign countries as part of global outreach on Operation Sindoor, one name came as a surprise. Among his counterparts, all known heavyweights that the Centre picked (but who didn't figure in the Congress list), was a relatively low-key two-time Congress MP from Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab, Amar Singh.
However, to those who know Singh closely, are not surprised at the Narendra Modi government picking the physician-turned-bureaucrat-turned-politician, who is an emerging Dalit leader with an impressive career as an official.
A 1981-batch IAS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, Amar Singh, 71, is believed to have played an important role in shaping two landmark laws – the MGNREGA and the Food Security Act (FSA) – under former prime minister Manmohan Singh, and is also seen to be the brain behind Digvijaya Singh's Dalit empowerment initiative when the Congress leader was the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister.
Singh belongs to Boparai Kalan village of Ludhiana district, and was born to landless parents who made a living as farm workers.
'My father studied up to Class 6 and understood the importance of education,' Singh tells The Indian Express. 'In 1969, I did well in Class 10 and was given a Rs 100 scholarship. That was a lot of money and it kept me going. I took admission in DAV College, Amritsar, and later in Amritsar Medical College.'
After shifting to the IAS, Singh got an additional degree as Masters in Economics.
He rose to Principal Secretary, Madhya Pradesh, and Secretary to CM Digvijaya Singh from 1997, following which he was appointed as Joint Secretary, Government of India, between 2004 and 2010.
Singh plays down praise such as being 'the brain behind a CM'. 'They are the brains behind their own decisions. I will not take that credit. I can tell you, CMs do what they want… If the CM does not take a decision to the Cabinet, it will not see the light of day. The Principal Secretary is just a sophisticated postman,' says the self-effacing leader.
His last posting was as Chairman and Managing Director of the Food Corporation of India, and he held that post in 2013, when the second UPA government under Manmohan Singh passed the Food Security Act.
Recalling his time with the late Manmohan Singh, Singh says the former PM often asked him if the government would be able to provide such huge quantities of foodgrains as required. 'He used to ask me every year if the government had enough (food grains) to give year after year. I remember having presented data to him after conducting an extensive exercise and made him believe that it was doable. Both the MGNREGA and FSA became a reality and are still being implemented.'
Soon after his retirement, Amar Singh joined the Congress in 2014, and was straightaway appointed senior vice-president of its Punjab unit, which was then helmed by current Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa.
Three years later, Amar Singh made his electoral debut in the Assembly polls from the Raikot seat, but lost to Jagtar Singh Jagga Hissowal of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) by over 10,000 votes. He successfully contested the Fatehgarh Sahib Lok Sabha seat in 2019 and retained it five years later.
As MP, Amar Singh is a part of key parliamentary committees, including on railways, oil and natural gas, and food, consumer affairs and public distribution.
The Fatehgarh Sahib MP, who says he does not own a house in Punjab and stays in a rented accommodation in his constituency, is known to keep his doors open for people, like he did during his tenure as a bureaucrat. 'When I was posted as the District Collector of Jhabua in Madhya Pradesh, I would return from my field visits around 10 pm to find people from tribal communities sleeping on the floor outside my house. Those meetings are pleasant memories,' he say.
Singh will be a part of the all-party delegation headed by BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad, which will travel to the UK, France, Germany, Denmark, European Union and Italy, as part of the government exercise to apprise foreign governments about India's position on Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.
Despite some amount of bad blood between the Congress and BJP over the Centre's choice of Opposition MPs in panels, Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar is all praise for Amar Singh, describing him as a 'seasoned and articulate politician who can take the message across'. 'I was rather surprised by the Congress's earlier choice (Amrinder Singh Raja Warring). How will unqualified people interact with foreign diplomats and delegates? The Congress got swayed by cheap antics. It does not behove of a national party to recommend such a name for a panel that has to carry such an important message,' Jakhar says.
Amar Singh says he sought clearance from Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge before deciding to be a part of the panel. 'I would not be on it had he denied it.'
On his role, Singh says: 'I have been a doctor in a bordering district and know what Pakistan has done to our youth, from unleashing terror to narcoterrorism. I will expose Pakistan.'
