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Rajnath Singh
Defence Minister, Government of India- Rajnath Singh went to a local school in his village in Uttar Pradesh's Chandauli district. He then joined Gorakhpur University from where he completed his MSc in Physics. His first job was that of a lecturer of Physics at Mirzapur's K.B. Post-Graduate College
- He joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and was its secretary for the Gorakhpur division from 1969 to 1972. He joined the RSS and became its general secretary of Mirzapur division in 1972
- Singh began his political career at the age of 24 with the Jan Sangh in 1975, and was first elected to the UP Assembly in 1977 from Mirzapur
- He was appointed as State Secretary of UP BJP in 1983 and in the following year became the State President of the BJP's youth wing (BJYM). In 1988 he became the National President of the BJYM
- In 1988, he was elected to the Upper House of the UP Legislative Council and became the Education minister of the state in 1991. During his tenure, he introduced the Anti-Copying Act and Vedic Mathematics in the syllabus
- He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1994 and also became the party's chief whip in the Upper House. In 1997, Singh became the president of UP BJP and played a crucial role in saving the state government during political crises
- In November 1999, he became the Union Minister for Surface Transport and initiated the National Highway Development Programme (NHDP), a dream project of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
- In October 2000, Rajnath took oath as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and remained in the post till 2002. In May 2003, he was given the charge of the Union Agriculture Ministry by PM Vajpayee. He introduced projects like Kisan Call Centre and Farm Income Insurance Scheme
- In 2004, he was appointed as National General Secretary of the BJP and in the following year became the party's president. Rajnath Singh served as BJP president from 2005 to 2009, and briefly again from 2013 to 2014 following the resignation of Nitin Gadkari. After he took charge as Union minister, Amit Shah took his place
- As the party president, he toured the country highlighting the failures of the UPA government. During his presidentship, Narendra Modi was anointed as the BJP's PM candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls
- In 2014, Singh contested the Lok Sabha polls from the Lucknow constituency and won comprehensively. He was sworn-in as the home minister in the Modi cabinet and played an effective role as number 2 to PM
- As home minister, he led the effort on Jammu & Kashmir, first managing a difficult alliance and then changing course after the alliance broke. During his stint, Singh was able to contain Maoist violence and squeeze their operational areas. He also took certain administrative decisions which allowed paramilitary forces to enjoy greater autonomy in financial matters and liberalised visa regimes. Apart from that, he was also tasked by Modi to help him fight political problems, including those related to farmers
- He again contested from Lucknow in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and won from there. He was sworn-in as the Defence Minister in Modi Cabinet 2.0 in 2019
- As Raksha Mantri, he initiated various reforms particularly involving women. Some of them include induction of women in the corps of military police and increasing the tenure of women officers in SSC from 10 to 14 years
- After the Galwan clash in 2020, Singh personally conveyed his appreciation and compliments to the Army personnel from the Bihar Regiment for displaying exemplary grit and courage in valiantly fighting the Chinese troops
Before you go ...
- Rajnath Singh is sought after as a leader who understands farmers’ issues
- Even after several decades in politics, the teacher in him is alive and he loves interacting with students and youth of India
- The veteran politician has also written a book on Unemployment - Its Reasons and Remedies