Arun Singh is a former union minister of state for defence in the Government of India

Government of India

The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...

. He was minister in the government headed by Rajiv Gandhi

Rajiv Gandhi

Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was the sixth Prime Minister of India . He took office after his mother's assassination on 31 October 1984; he himself was assassinated on 21 May 1991. He became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40.Rajiv Gandhi was the elder son of Indira...

 .

Born into the princely family of Kapurthala

Kapurthala

Kapurthala is a city in Punjab state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Kapurthala District. It was the capital of the Kapurthala State, a princely state in British India. The secular and aesthetic mix of the city with its prominent buildings based on French and Indo-Saracenic...

, Arun Singh attended Doon School and later Cambridge

University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

 with Rajiv Gandhi. After completing his MA in 1971, Arun Singh joined The Metal Box Company and later Reckitt and Coleman

Reckitt Benckiser

Reckitt Benckiser plc is a global consumer goods company headquartered in Slough, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest producer of household products and a major producer of consumer healthcare and personal products...

.

Arun and Rajiv Gandhi were great friends and so were their wives, Nina and Sonia. When Rajiv moved into 7 Race Course Road

7 Race Course Road

7, Race Course Road is the official residence of the Prime Minister of India, where he lives and holds most of his official or political meetings. Situated on Race Course Road, New Delhi, the official name of the PM's residence complex is Panchavati...

 as Prime Minister

Prime Minister of India

The Prime Minister of India , as addressed to in the Constitution of India — Prime Minister for the Union, is the chief of government, head of the Council of Ministers and the leader of the majority party in parliament...

, he made the Singhs live in the adjoining bungalow, with just a wicket gate separating them.

Arun Singh is known as a person of unimpeachable character. At the height of Bofors scandal

Bofors scandal

The Bofors scandal was a major corruption scandal in India in the 1980s; the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and several others were accused of receiving kickbacks from Bofors AB for winning a bid to supply India's 155 mm field howitzer...

 Singh left the government without explanation; he later said that Gandhi had prevented him from pursuing his investigations into the affair, but that he (Singh) had not received any money from the company .

At the time of Kargil war

Kargil War

The Kargil War ,, also known as the Kargil conflict, was an armed conflict between India and Pakistan that took place between May and July 1999 in the Kargil district of Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control...

 NDA

National Democratic Alliance (India)

The National Democratic Alliance is a centre-right coalition of political parties in India. At the time of its formation in 1998, it was led by the Bharatiya Janata Party and had thirteen constituent parties. Its convenor is Sharad Yadav, and its honorary chairman is former prime minister Atal...

 defence minister Jaswant Singh

Jaswant Singh

- Career :He is one of the few Indian politicians to have been the Minister for Defence, Finance and External Affairs.He started the new government of Vajpayee, which lasted its full term, as the External Affairs Minister and later on switched his ministry to Finance with Yashwant Sinha...

brought him back as his advisor.