A Freedom fighter, administrator, and a statesman, attained the status of an internationally acclaimed intellectual in the fields of international re… - Shankar Dayal Sharma

He was sometimes highly emotional. In 1990, while he was vice president and was presiding over the upper house of Parliament at time of turmoil, he broke into tears and left the hall, saying that he could not be a party to the murder of democracy.

It was to take seven more years before the Constituent Assembly became a reality. This was a period which saw dramatic developments not merely in India but throughout the world. In India, our Freedom Struggle was at its peak in 1942 during the historic Quit India Movement. Internationally, there was a fundamental transformation in the geo-political situation after the Second World War. The world was in a state of flux when our peaceful and non-violent struggle attained success. It was a struggle led by women and men of character, leaders who had braved the trials and tribulations of colonial rule and had undergone tremendous suffering and hardship.

In 1996, when that situation arose, he was at the center of a maelstrom over forming government. He was faced with what constitutional experts said then was one of the most challenging moments in the history of independent India.