Babu Jagjivan Ram, who traveled from Chandwa, a small village in Bihar, to Delhi politics, was considered the messiah of the Dalits, the poor and the deprived. He made the Dalit community a part of the freedom struggle. From getting an education at Banaras Hindu University to visiting Jagannath temple with his wife, he had to face caste discrimination. However, his role in politics was so powerful that he created a world record of being an MP for 50 years. Babu Jagjivan Ram was MP from 1936 to 1986. It is said that during the Emergency, Indira Gandhi had asked him to succeed her as the Prime Minister, although later there was distance between the two. Later, even after winning the elections from the Janata Party, he remained a strong contender for the post of Prime Minister but could not get the post. On the occasion of Babu Jagjivan Ram's birth anniversary on 5th April, know why Jagjivan Ram could not become the Prime Minister of the country despite his strong political achievements.

Who was Babu Jagjivan Ram?
Jagjivan Ram has been the Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister of India. He made an invaluable contribution to the development of India's parliamentary democracy. Besides, he is remembered as the most important face of Dalit politics in the country.

Biography of Jagjivan Ram
Jagjivan Ram was born on 5 April 1908 in Chandwa village of Bhojpur district of Bihar. His father's name was Sobhi Ram and his mother's name was Vasanti Devi. Received primary education from Ara Town School. However, being a Dalit, he had to face a lot of difficulties in the beginning. Despite the discrimination based on caste and religion in those days, Jagjivan Ram received higher education from Banaras Hindu University and Calcutta University.

Contribution of Jagjivan Ram
The credit for involving the Dalit community in the freedom struggle goes to Jagjivan Ram. In 1934, he founded the All India Ravidas Mahasabha and the All India Depressed Classes League in Kolkata. Through this organization, the Dalit community was included in the freedom struggle.

On 19 October 1935, Jagjivan Ram demanded voting rights for Dalits for the first time in front of the Hammond Commission in Ranchi.

Political career
In 1936, Babu Jagjivan Ram was named a member of the Bihar Legislative Council at the age of 28. When the Congress government was formed in 1937, Jagjivan Ram was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Development. Later in 1938, he resigned along with the entire cabinet.

Jagjivan Ram was a member of the All India Congress Committee from 1940 to 1977. He was also involved in the Congress Working Committee from 1948 to 1977. Worked in the Central Parliamentary Board from 1950 to 1977. Babu Jagjivan Ram was the Defense Minister of the country during the 1971 Indo-Pak war. During the Green Revolution, he served as the Agriculture Minister of the country.

Not only this, Jagjivan Ram remained an MP for 50 years, and due to this achievement a world record has been made in his name.

After Indira Gandhi's Emergency, distance started between Jagjivan Ram and Congress and he left the party and formed a new party named Congress for Democracy. Later, on the insistence of Jayaprakash Narayan, he contested the election on the election symbol of the Janata Party. He was in contention for the post of Prime Minister but Morarji Desai was made the PM and he got the post of Deputy Prime Minister, making him a part of the cabinet.

(PC: Social media)