After playing a significant role in the independence movement, Shankar Dayal Sharma played a prominent role in the formation of former Bhopal state, too.
After India’s independence, the Nawab of Bhopal expressed his wish to retain the Bhopal princely state as a separate unit. Sharma led public agitations against the Nawab in December 1948. He was arrested on charges of leading a public agitation against the Nawab. He also served a jail term for violating restrictions on public meetings. He was later released under public pressure, and the Nawab was forced to sign the agreement for merge with the Indian union on 30th April, 1949.
In the year 1952, he became the Chief Minister of the former state of Bhopal. He was the youngest Chief Minister at the time. He served in that position until the state re-organisation of 1956, when Bhopal state merged with several other states to form the state of Madhya Pradesh.
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