Academics, Politics, Law, he has possibly touched most of the fields, leaving his recognizable rebellious mark in each of them.
Here we give you list of facts about Subramanian Swamy which most of you must be unaware of:
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1. Born into a family of intellectuals
Subramanian Swamy was born on 15 September, 1939, in Mylapore, Chennai. His ancestors can be traced back to Madurai in Tamil Nadu.
2. Moved from Tamil Nadu to Delhi
His family moved from Tamil Nadu to New Delhi when Swamy was just six months old.
3. His father was a well known Mathematician
Swamy’s father Sitaraman Subramanian, a mathematician himself, was the director of Central Statistical institute, Delhi. Beside being a statistical adviser to the Government of India.
4. Graduated from Hindu College, finishing 3rd in the Delhi University
Let’s talk about his academic brilliance. Subramanian Swamy earned his Graduate Honours Degree in Mathematics from Hindu College, University of Delhi.
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5. Went to Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata for Masters
Swamy moved from Delhi to Kolkata to get himself enrolled in Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata to complete his masters.
Talk about genes huh?
6. You can call Swamy our very own Sheldon Cooper
He was awarded with PhD in Economics in 1965, from Harvard University. At this time his age was just 24.
7. Got married with a Parsi girl
Subramanian Swamy met Roxna Parsi, while studying at Harvard, who was also studying PhD in Mathematics. They tied knot in 1966 and are blessed with two daughters, Gitanjali Swamy and Suhasini Haider.
8. Associate professor at Harvard
Just after completing his PhD in economics from Harvard, Swamy joined as faculty of economics at the same institute.
9. Appointment then rejection
While still at Harvard, Swamy was offered the post of a professor to join Delhi School of Economics by the now Nobel Laureate, Amartya Sen. However the offer was taken off the table at the last minute because of Swamy being a believer in free markets.
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10. A successful follow-up after the rejection
He took up the post of teaching Mathematical Economics at Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in 1969.
11. Sacked from IIT job
Swamy’s conflicting nature costed him his job at IIT and was sacked in December 1972. In reply the tough guy sued the prestigious institute for wrongful dismissal. He won the case in 1991 to join IIT for a day before resigning.
12. Indira Gandhi refered Swamy as ‘Santa Claus with unrealistic ideas’
Swamy’s liberal economic policies were rejected by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1970, who discredited him as ‘Santa Claus with unrealistic ideas’.
13. Start of the political career
Nanaji Deshmukh a stalwart of Jan Sangh picked Subramanian Swamy to represent the party in Rajya Sabha in 1974.
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14. Founding member of Janta Party
Subramanian Swamy was one of the founding members of the Janta Party to which Indira Gandhi government lost 1977 general election. This happened for that first time that congress lost control over independent India.
15. Encounter with Nobel Prize winners
Swamy had co-authored a paper on the Theory of Index Numbers, with Paul Samuelson, the latter being the first American to win a Nobel Prize. The paper was published in 1974.
His thesis adviser was Nobel Laureate Simon Kuznets!
16. Daring act during the Emergency Days
During emergency (1975–77) arrest warrants were issued against many ministers including Swamy and he was able to evade it.
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During this the most daring act of Swamy was to come India from America, attending Lok Sabha session breaking all security barriers of parliament, and then flee from back to America.
17. A Mathematician, an Economist, a Politician, an Author
Swamy wrote a book on the economic condition of China, titled “Economic Growth in China and India, 1952–70: A Comparative Appraisal”. Someone challenged Swamy to learn Chinese/Mandarin in a year and he took just 3 months.
18. Role in Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, 1981
Swamy meeting with China paramount leader Deng Xiaoping cooled the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra issue. He played an important role to get access of Kailash Mansarovar Yatra for Hindu devotees.
19. Prepared blue-print of the landmark economic reforms in 1990s
1990-91 saw him as a member of the Planning Commission of India and Union Minister of Commerce and Law. Most of you must not be aware of the fact that the blue-print of the landmark economic reform was prepared by Subramanian Swamy under the prime ministership of Chandra Shekhar Singh.
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Those document were guiding light for Manmohan Singh, then the Finance Minister during PV Narasimha Rao government.
20. First member of opposition party to get a Cabinet rank
In 1994, under the leadership of P. V. Narasimha Rao Subramanian Swamy was appointed as Chairman of the Commission on Labour Standards and International Trade.
This was perhaps for the first time that a Opposition Party member was given a Cabinet rank post by the ruling party.
21. Swamy role in the Hashimpura Massacre, 1987
During the Hindu-muslim riots in Meerut city in Uttar Pradesh i.e. Hashimpura Massacre, 42 muslim youths were killed under police custody. Swamy revolted against it and sat on a fast in Jantar Mantar, continuing for over a week, urging for an inquiry.
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After 25 years in 2012 he again started pursuing the case in court.
22. Role in Exposing 2G scam
Subramanian Swamy was one of the five people to write a letter to the then prime minister, Manmohan Singh, exposing a loss of 1.76 lakh crore, resulting in the then Telecom Minister, A Raja to spend 15 months behind the bars.
23. Dr. Subramanian Swamy Versus Director, Central Bureau of Investigation & Anr.
In 1997, Swamy filed a petition in the Supreme Court of India to take down “single directive provision“, which barred CBI from investigating corruption charges against officers of the rank of joint secretary and above without prior permission of the Govt of India.
The On 6 May 2014, “single directive provision” was taken down.
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24. Campaign to fight against black money
Swamy founded Action Committee Against Corruption in India (ACACI) in 2011 and was also the chairperson of the committee.
25. From academics to politician and lawyer
Swamy was always brilliant in academics. An expert in mathematics, his life events turned him into politics and law. ACACI’s aim is to take action against corruption at very high places of government and Indian black money stashed abroad.
A one man army, that’s what they call him. Now you know why, now you know how, now you know the strength, now you know you don’t need superpowers to be a super human. You just need the fierce determination!
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