Rajnath Singh, the teacher- turned politician, is returning to government in a seamless journey from a party president, under whose stewardship the BJP has returned to power with highest ever tally. 62-year-old Singh, who steadfastly announced Modi’s name as BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate despite opposition from seniors like L K Advani, is going to be one of the trusted lieutenants of Prime Minister Modi with a major say in the functioning of the government. Singh, a two-term BJP president, rose from a BJP activists in Gorakhpur, where he tought physics in a local college, to Chief Minister of politically crucial Uttar Pradesh and then Transport and Agriculture Minister in Atal Bihar Vajpayee government. His rise in politics has been gradual and steady during which he had been BJP chief from 2006 to 2009 and earned the reputation of being an able administrator as Union Minister and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Elected to Lok Sabha from Lucknow, Singh has emerged from the ranks as a political heavyweight in the party largely due to his proximity to BJP’s spiritual mentor RSS. After taking over BJP’s reins for the first time from Advani in December 2005, Singh sought to rebuild the party by focusing on basic Hindutva ideologies and said there would be “no compromise” on building the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. However, he not only failed to steer the party to power in the 2009 general elections but BJP’s poll tally dropped by 22 seats compared to 2004 Lok Sabha polls. Born on July 10, 1951 at Bhabhaura village in Uttar Pradesh’s Chandauli district, Singh obtained MSc in physics from Gorakhpur University and was appointed lecturer in the K B Post degree college in Mirzapur in 1971. Singh’s association with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh began in 1964 when he was only 13 year old. Even as lecturer he remained attached to RSS. Rising step by step, he began his political innings with BJP’s student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in 1969 as its organising secretary in Gorakhpur and rose to become the secretary of the then Bharatiya Jan Sangh’s Mirzapur unit in 1974. During the Emergency, Singh joined Jaiprakash Narayan’s movement and was arrested in July 1975 before being released in 1977. (With inputs from PTI)
‘Even if there isn’t friendship between govt and media, there shouldn’t be animosity’
If I say that that during the Emergency, Ramnath Goenka lit a lamp in the middle of a tempest, it would not be an exaggeration. And the lamp he lit stayed alive despite the tempest.
Looking at certain leaders sitting before me, I find myself in a piquant situation. If I speak about the late Ramnath Goenka and his role during and after the Emergency, I am going to feel a bit hesitant, given that some of our friends from the Congress are sitting here. You could say that one should speak openly. But you know there is some courtesy one has to extend. Democracy functions through such courtesies. But all of them are friends and they won’t mind whatever I am going to say here, at least at this time.
I would like to say that I feel very happy to be here. Normally, I do not consent to appear at events. But the moment I was told about this programme, I agreed. There was only one reason for that: The great respect I have for Ramnath Goenkaji.
It was the time of Emergency. I was in Naini jail. Before that, I had been in solitary confinement. There were teachers from Allahabad University and leaders from various political parties in the Naini Central Jail, and barely a day went by when Goenka was not discussed in the jail. I never met him personally. But whatever I had heard about him in those days had created an impression on me, and that is why I readily agreed to be here.
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