Editing V. P. Singh (section)

=== Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh ===
He was appointed as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1980 when Indira Gandhi was re-elected after the Janata interlude.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite web|date=23 November 2018|title=V.P. Singh &#124; Biography|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/545849/VP-Singh|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200630101418/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/545849/VP-Singh|archive-date=2020-06-30|access-date=18 January 2019|publisher=Britannica.com}}</ref> As Chief Minister (1980–82), he cracked down hard on [[dacoity]], a problem that was particularly severe in the rural districts of the southwest Uttar Pradesh.<ref>{{Cite web |title=VP Singh, the initiator of coalition politics in India |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/anniversary/vp-singh-the-initiator-of-coalition-politics-in-india/ |access-date=2025-04-14 |website=The Tribune |language=en}}</ref> He received much favourable national publicity when he offered to resign following a self-professed failure to stamp out the problem, and again when he personally oversaw the surrender of some of the most feared dacoits of the area in 1983.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The queen is dead {{!}} The Guardian {{!}} guardian.co.uk|url=https://www.theguardian.com/g2/story/0,3604,527406,00.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200501154943/https://www.theguardian.com/g2/story/0,3604,527406,00.html|archive-date=2020-05-01|access-date=15 September 2020|website=www. the guardian.com}}</ref> The Behmai massacre provoked outrage across the country thereby causing V. P. Singh to resign in the wake of the killings.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Tribune, Chandigarh, India – Nation|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060501/nation.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029113752/https://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060501/nation.htm|archive-date=2020-10-29|access-date=15 September 2020|website=www.tribuneindia.com}}</ref> as he was the under whom [[Phoolan Devi]] surrendered as he saved her life by instructing the police officers to not kill her in the [[Police encounter]] to secure the votes of Dalits (though Phoolan's 22 gang members were killed).<ref>{{Cite news|agency=PTI|date=17 January 2020|title=39 years after the 1981 Behmai massacre involving Phoolan Devi, verdict likely on Jan 18|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/39-years-after-the-1981-behmai-massacre-involving-phoolan-devi-verdict-likely-on-jan-18/article30587097.ece|access-date=15 September 2020|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> Singh was an upper caste man and had ruled the vote bank of [[Uppercaste|upper-caste]] people in [[Uttar Pradesh]] for the [[Indian National Congress]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ricento|first=Thomas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rMqYIwZkIYgC&q=Ideology,+Politics,+and+Language+Policies:+Focus+on+English|title=Ideology, Politics and Language Policies: Focus on English|date=2000-11-28|publisher=John Benjamins Publishing|isbn=978-90-272-9931-4|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=lKLkGi6FmjEC&dq=VP+Singh+as+Cm+of+Up&pg=PA141 141]|language=en}}</ref> He resumed his post as [[Minister of Commerce and Industry (India)|Minister of Commerce]] in 1983.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kudaisya|first=Gyanesh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=roFjDwAAQBAJ&q=Region,+Nation,+%22Heartland%22:+Uttar+Pradesh+in+India's+Body|title=Region, Nation, "Heartland": Uttar Pradesh in India's Body Politic|date=2006-09-05|publisher=SAGE Publishing India|isbn=978-93-5280-542-6|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=roFjDwAAQBAJ&dq=VP+Singh+as+Cm+of+Up&pg=PA419 419]|language=en|url-access=registration}}</ref>