Chaudhary Charan Singh was born on December 23, 1902 in village Noorpur, town Hapur, District Gaziabad of Uttar Pradesh in a poor peasant's family. He was a good student, and received a Master of Art degree in 1925 and Law degree in 1926 from Meerut University.In February 1937 he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh (United Provinces) Chhaprouli (Baghpat) at the age of 34. In 1938 he introduced an Agricultural Produce Market Bill in the Assembly which was intended to safeguard the interests of the farmers against the rapacity of the traders. The Bill was adopted by most of the States in India.

He was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violence and entered India’s Independence Movement. After India’s independence he came to be associated with socialism in the rural areas.In 1952 he was Revenue Minister of Uttar Pradesh and one of his major contributions was that he did away with the Zamindari system and also brought in Land Reform Acts. He was a strong opponent of Nehru's socialism and fell out with the Congress party. He left Congress in 1967 and formed his independent party known as the Bharatiya Lok Dal. He served twice as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
He became Prime Minister of India in 1979. His speech to the nation on India's Independence Day (15 August
1979) was very prophetic in which he identified Pakistan's nuclear ambition as a major threat to India. He also mentioned that Indian labour laws had to be refined if India were to become competitive in world economy. He also opened high level diplomatic relations with Israel, which later Indira Gandhi's government curtailed. He has written several books. Some of them are:

• India's Economic Policy - The Gandhian Blueprint
• Economic Nightmare of India - Its Cause and Cure
• Cooperative Farming X-rayed

Chaudhary Charan Singh passed away on 29 May 1987. His memorial in New Delhi was named as Kisan Ghat because of his lifelong association with the farming communities of Northern India.