Rajnath Singh

Rajnath Singh (born 10 July 1951) is an Indian politician serving as the Defence Minister of India. He is the former President of Bharatiya Janata Party. He has previously served as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and as a Cabinet Minister in the Vajpayee Government. He was the Home Minister in the First Modi Ministry. He has also served as the President of the BJP twice, 2005 to 2009 and 2013 to 2014.

Rajnath Singh
Singh in 2020
Minister of Defence
Assumed office
31 May 2019
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byNirmala Sitharaman
Minister of Home Affairs
In office
26 May 2014 – 30 May 2019
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded bySushilkumar Shinde
Succeeded byAmit Shah
President of the Bharatiya Janata Party
In office
24 January 2013 – 8 July 2014
Preceded byNitin Gadkari
Succeeded byAmit Shah
In office
31 December 2005 – 19 December 2009
Preceded byL. K. Advani
Succeeded byNitin Gadkari
Minister of Agriculture
In office
24 May 2003 – 22 May 2004
Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee
Preceded byAjit Singh
Succeeded bySharad Pawar
19th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
In office
28 October 2000 – 8 March 2002
GovernorSuraj Bhan
Vishnu Kant Shastri
Preceded byRam Prakash Gupta
Succeeded byPresident's rule
Minister of Road Transport and Highways
In office
22 November 1999 – 27 October 2000
Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee
Preceded byNitish Kumar
Succeeded byB. C. Khanduri
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
Assumed office
16 May 2014
Preceded byLalji Tandon
ConstituencyLucknow
In office
16 May 2009 – 16 May 2014
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byVijay Kumar Singh
ConstituencyGhaziabad
Personal details
Born (1951-07-10) 10 July 1951
Bhabhaura, Chandauli district, Uttar Pradesh, India
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party
Other political
affiliations		Bharatiya Jana Sangh (Before 1977)
Spouse(s)Savitri Singh
Children3, including Pankaj Singh
Alma materGorakhpur University (M.Sc. in Physics)
WebsiteOfficial website

Early life

Singh was born in Bhabhaura village of Chandauli district, Uttar Pradesh. His father was Ram Badan Singh and his mother was Gujarati Devi. He was born into a family of farmers and went on to secure a master's degree in physics, acquiring first division results from the Gorakhpur University. Rajnath Singh had been associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh since 1964, at the age of 13 and remained connected with the organisation. In 1974, he was appointed secretary for the Mirzapur unit of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, predecessor of Bharatiya Janata Party.[1]

Political career

In 1975, aged 24, Singh was appointed District President of the Jana Sangh. In 1977, he was elected Member of Legislative Assembly from the Mirzapur. He became the State President of the BJP youth wing in 1984, the National general secretary in 1986 and the National President in 1988. He was also elected into the Uttar Pradesh legislative council.[1]

In 1991, he became Education Minister in the first BJP government in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Major highlights of his tenure as Education Minister included Anti-Copying Act, 1992, which made copying a non-bailable offence,[2] modernising science texts and incorporating vedic mathematics into the syllabus.[3]

Union Surface Transport Minister (1999-2000)

In April 1994, he was elected into the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of the Parliament) and he became involved with the Advisory committee on Industry (1994–96), Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Agriculture, Business Advisory Committee, House Committee and the Committee on Human Resource Development.[1] On 25 March 1997, he became the President of the BJP's unit in Uttar Pradesh and in 1999 he became the Union Cabinet Minister for Surface Transport.[1]

Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (2000-02)

In 2000, he became Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and was twice elected as MLA from Haidergarh in 2001 and 2002.[2] He tried to rationalise the reservation structure in government jobs by introducing the most Backward Classes among the OBC and SC, so that the benefit of reservation can reach the lowest status of Society.[4]

On 7 February 2001, Singh inaugurated the DND Flyway which connects Delhi to Noida.[5]

Union Agriculture Minister (2003-04)

In 2003, Singh was appointed as the Minister of Agriculture and subsequently for Food Processing in the NDA Government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and was faced with the difficult task of maintaining one of the most volatile areas of India's economy.[6] During this period he initiated a few epoch-making projects including the Kisan Call Centre and Farm Income Insurance Scheme.[7] He brought down interest rates on Agriculture loans and also established Farmer Commission and initiated Farms Income Insurance Scheme.[4]

National President of the BJP (2005-09)

After the BJP lost power in the 2004 general elections, it was forced to sit in the Opposition. After the resignation of prominent figure Lal Krishna Advani, and the murder of strategist Pramod Mahajan, Singh sought to rebuild the party by focusing on the most basic Hindutva ideologies.[8] He announced his position of "no compromise" in relation to the building of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya at any cost[8] and commended the rule of Vajpayee as Prime Minister, pointing towards all the developments the NDA made for the ordinary people of India.[9] He also criticised the role of the English language in India, claiming that most of Indian population is unable to participate in Indian economy and cultural discourse due to extreme preferences shown to English at the expense of native languages.[10]

He became the BJP National President on 31 December 2005, a post he held till 19 December 2009. In May 2009, he was elected MP from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh.[11]

On 24 January 2013, following the resignation of Nitin Gadkari due to corruption charges, Singh was re-elected as the BJP's National President.[12]

Singh is on record shortly after the law Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code was re-instated in 2013, claiming that his party is "unambiguously" in favour of the law, also claiming that "We will state (at an all-party meeting if it is called) that we support Section 377 because we believe that homosexuality is an unnatural act and cannot be supported.”[13]

He contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Lucknow constituency and was subsequently elected as a Member of the Parliament.[14]

Union Home Minister (2014-19)
The Union Home Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh reviewing the working of the Border Security Force, in New Delhi

He was appointed the Union Minister of Home Affairs in the Narendra Modi government and was sworn in on 26 May 2014.[15]

He triggered controversy amid the protests over the police action at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), on 14 February 2016, claiming that the "JNU incident" was supported by Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed.[16]

In May 2016, he claimed that infiltration from Pakistan declined by 52% in a period of two years.[17]

On 9 April 2017, he launched Bharat Ke Veer Web portal and Application with Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar. This was an initiative taken by him for the welfare of Martyrs' family.[18]

An official anthem was launched on 20 January 2018 for the cause 'Bharat Ke Veer' by him along with film star Akshay Kumar, and other ministers Kiren Rijiju, Hansraj Ahir.[19]

On 21 May 2018, he commissioned Bastariya Battalion. As Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh attended the passing out parade of 241 Bastariya Battalion of CRPF in Ambikapur, Chhattisgarh on 21 May 2018.[20]

Union Defence Minister (2019- present)
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh commissions INS Khanderi at Mumbai

Singh became the Defence minister of India on 31 May 2019.[21]

References
  1. "Profile: Rajnath Singh". Zee News. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007.
  2. "How Rajnath Singh rose through the ranks". Rediff.com. 31 January 2013
  3. "Who is Rajnath Singh? : India, News". India Today. 23 January 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  4. "Achievements". rajnathsingh.in
  5. "'Noida jinx' to keep Akhilesh Yadav away from PM event". The Economic Times. 29 December 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  6. "Courage, Mr Rajnath Singh". The Hindu. 11 June 2003.
  7. "Shri Rajnath Singh, MP (Ghaziabad)". wikimapia.org
  8. Ghatak, Lopamudra (23 December 2006). "It's basic instinct for Rajnath Singh". The Times of India.
  9. Rajnath Singh is new BJP President Archived 11 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine. indianewsdiary.com
  10. "BJP chief claims English bad for India, triggers outrage." The Times of India. 20 July 2013
  11. "Ministry of Home Affairs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 June 2017.
  12. "Rajnath steps down, Gadkari takes over as BJP president". The Times of India. Press Trust of India. 19 December 2009. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  13. Rameshan, Radhika (13 December 2011). "BJP comes out, vows to oppose homosexuality". The Telegraph.
  14. "Rajnath Singh surpasses Vajpayee’s victory margin in Lucknow". The Hindu. 18 May 2014
  15. "Portfolios of the Union Council of Ministers". www.pmindia.gov.in. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  16. "Understand the reality… Lashkar chief Hafiz Saeed backed JNU incident: Home Minister Rajnath Singh". 15 February 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  17. "Narendra Modi's 56-inch chest not reduced an inch: Rajnath Singh", Deccan Chronicle, 28 May 2016
  18. "Shri Rajnath Singh inaugurates Web Portal 'Bharat ke Veer'". pib.nic.in. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  19. "Akshay Kumar, Rajnath Singh unveil official anthem of 'Bharat Ke Veer'". 20 January 2018.
  20. "First ever graduation parade of 'Bastariya Battalion' held in Chhattisgarh". India Today. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  21. "PM Modi allocates portfolios. Full list of new ministers", Live Mint, 31 May 2019
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