Rajnath Singh Biography

About Rajnath Singh

Rajnath Singh, an Indian politician, is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He is currently the Union Minister of Home Affairs in the BJP-led NDA government of India. He was formerly the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party. A physics lecturer by profession, Rajnath Singh has long-time ties with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which facilitated his entry into Indian politics.

He has held positions in different capacities, including a significant role as Chief Minister of the state of Uttar Pradesh. Other positions held by him include National President of Bharatiya Janata Party, President of the party’s youth wing, President of the party unit in Uttar Pradesh and Cabinet Minister in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

Rajnath Singh's Personal Background

Rajnath Singh was born on July 10, 1951 to a family of farmers in a village called Bhabhaura in Chandauli District of Uttar Pradesh. His father was Shri Rambadan Singh and mother was Smt. Gujarati Devi. He completed his basic education in his village and thereafter finished his master's degree in Physics with first division from Gorakhpur University of Uttar Pradesh. Rajnath Singh worked at the K.B. Post Graduate College at Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, as a lecturer in Physics. He is married to Savitri Singh and the couple have two sons and one daughter.



Entry in Politics

In 1964, at a very early age of 13, Rajnath Singh got associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and continued the association even while he was working as lecturer in K. B. Post Graduate College at Mirzapur. Rajnath Singh held major positions as a young cadet of RSS. He was the organisational secretary of the Gorakhpur unit of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) from 1969 to 1971. ABVP is the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Rajnath Singh became the General Secretary of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in Mirzapur in 1972. In 1974, he was appointed as secretary of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh's Mirzapur unit. 



You may also like to read
Know about Manish Tewari
Know Political Journey of Manmohan Singh
Know about Elections in India

Political Journey of Rajnath Singh

• Rajnath Singh formally joined Indian politics in 1974.
• He became the Bharatiya Jana Sangh for the Mirzapur unit in 1974. The Bharatiya Jan Sangh was a precursor to the present Bharatiya Janata Party.
• In 1975, he was the District President of Jan Sangh and District Coordinator of the JP Movement.
• Rajnath Singh was arrested during the Emergency and imprisoned for 18 months.
• He was elected as MLA in Uttar Pradesh State Assembly in 1977.
• He was the Bharatiya Janata Party’s State Secretary in Uttar Pradesh in 1983.
• In 1984, he was the State President of Bharatiya Janata Party's Youth Wing.
• Rajnath Singh became National General Secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party's Youth Wing in 1986.
• He was the National President of Bharatiya Janata Party's Youth Wing in 1988.
• He was elected Member of Legislative Council for Uttar Pradesh in 1988.
• From 1991 to 1992, he served as the Education Minister of the first BJP government in Uttar Pradesh. During his tenure, he implemented the Anti Copying Act and introduced Vedic Mathematics in the syllabus. He also introduced changes in various history textbooks.
• From 1994 to 1999, Rajnath Singh became a member of the Rajya Sabha. Also, in 1994 he served as the Chief Whip of Bharatiya Janata Party in Rajya Sabha.
• Rajnath Singh became Uttar Pradesh state President of Bharatiya Janata Party on 25 March 1997. This period saw him playing an active role in strengthening and expanding the party organization and also handling a political crisis while the Bharatiya Janata Party was leading the government.
• He was made the Union Surface Transport Minister on 22 November, 1999 in the Vajpayee Government. During this tenure he initiated the dream project of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee: National Highway Development Programme (NDHP). The project included the Golden Quadrilateral and the North South East West corridor.
• On 28 October 2000, he was inducted as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and was elected twice from the Haidargarh constituency in Barabanki as Member of Legislative Assembly.
• Rajnath Singh was made the National General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2002.
• He was re-elected as Member of the Rajya Sabha for the second time in 2003.
• Rajnath Singh became the Union Minister of Agriculture and Food Processing on 24 May, 2003. He introduced a few path-breaking projects like Farm Income Insurance Scheme and Kisan Call Centre.
• In July 2004, Rajnath Singh was reappointed as National General Secretary of the party.
• As a General Secretary he was in charge of two states, namely, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. His exceptional organizational skills and ability ensured the party’s victory in both the states.
• On 31 December 2005, Rajnath Singh was made the President of Bharatiya Janata Party. During his tenure as President of the party, he covered almost every nook and corner of the nation. He was also a part of the Bharat Suraksha Yatra that covered several states. The issues that were taken up were threats to internal security and the increasing terrorist activities. Issues of public interest, like escalating prices of essential commodities and grievance of farmers, were emphasized.
• Rajnath Singh was elected as Member of Parliament to the 15th Lok Sabha from the constituency of Ghaziabad in the state of in Uttar Pradesh on 16 May, 2009.
• On 7 October, 2009 he became a Member of the Committee on Ethics.
• On May 26, 2014, Rajnath Singh became the Union Minister for Home Affairs of India.

Achievements of Rajnath Singh

• During his tenure as state President of Bharatiya Janata Party, the party performed well, winning 58 seats in the Lok Sabha.
• In the year 2000, during his term as Surface Transport Minister, he changed the name of the emission standard EURO II to Bharat State II (BS II). This is now used in all vehicles of the nation as BS-3, BS-4 and so on.
• He brought down the rate of interest on agricultural loans from 14-18% to a more reasonable 8% during his term as Agriculture Minister. He introduced Farmer Commission and launched Farms Income Insurance Scheme.
• As Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, he tried to restructure the reservation format of government jobs so that the backward classes among the SC and OBC get more scope.
• During his tenure as Bharatiya Janata Party President, he stressed on implementing loan facilities to farmers at 1% in the states that were run by the Bharatiya Janata Party Government and was successful in bringing it about.
• He holds the credit for successfully installing the first Bharatiya Janata Party government in South India.
• During his term as President of the party, the record of a political party allotting 33% posts to women, was acheieved by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
• While serving as the National President of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), he wrote a book titled 'Unemployment: Its Reasons and Remedies'.

Rajnath Singh Elections Result