Vishwanath Pratap Singh, who cobbled a coalition of the Left and BJP to dethrone Rajiv Gandhi in the 1989 elections, played the reservation card a year later that irreversibly changed the course of Indian politics, bringing to the fore the power of backwards and Dalits in electoral politics.

The 77-year-old 'Raja of Manda', a sobriquet he earned because of his origins in the principality of Manda in Uttar Pradesh's Fathepur, entered politics in Allahabad during the Nehru era and soon made a name for his rectitude.

He earned the title of 'Mr Clean' despite occupying positions of power, including the Chief Ministership of Uttar Pradesh which he had resigned in the early 80s when his brother was killed by dacoits, and as Minister at the Centre.

Singh resigned as Defence Minister after he was shifted from Finance in 1987 at the height of his campaign against leading industrialists on the issue of tax evasion and later took on the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi by quitting Congress on the issue of Bofors scandal.

Forming Jan Morcha, an amalgam of disgruntled Congressmen, he later became the pivot around which the opposition came together to dethrone Congress to give the first non-Congress coalition at the Centre, supported by the Left parties and the BJP from outside.

Singh, once considered very close to Rajiv Gandhi, quit his government in 1987 on the issue of corruption in public life.

After being expelled from Congress, he launched 'Jan Morcha', was elected to Lok Sabha from Allahabad and then became a rallying point for the National Front comprising Janata Dal, Telugu Desam, Asom Gana Parishad, DMK and Congress(S). The Jan Morcha was merged with the Janata Dal before the 1989 general elections.

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