Rajnath Singh

Rajnath Singh (born 10 July 1951) is an Indian politician and lecturer, and the 25th Defence Minister of India since 2019. He was also the Deputy Leader of the House, Lok Sabha from 2019 to 2024. He was the 8th President of the Bharatiya Janata Party from 2005 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2014. He is a veteran leader of the BJP who started his career as a swayamsevak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Singh has previously served as the 19th chief minister of Uttar Pradesh from 2000 to 2002 and a Cabinet Minister for Road Transport and Highways in the Vajpayee Government from 1999 to 2000 and the minister of Agriculture from 2003 to 2004. He was the 30th Home Minister in the first Modi ministry from 2014 to 2019, making him the first person born after India obtained independence to hold that position. He was the President of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha from 1988 to 1990. He was a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from Haidergarh (assembly constituency) twice, and held the office of chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. He was a member of Lok Sabha from Lucknow since 2014 and Ghaziabad from 2009 to 2014. He was also a member of Rajya Sabha from 2002 to 2008 and from 1994 to 2001.

Early life
Rajnath Singh was born in Bhabhaura village of Chandauli district, Uttar Pradesh to father Ram Badan Singh and mother Gujarati Devi. He was born into a family of farmers. He received his primary education from a local school of his village and went on to secure a master's degree in physics, acquiring first division results from Gorakhpur University. From childhood he was inspired by the ideology of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. He worked as a lecturer of Physics at K.B. Post-Graduate College Mirzapur, UP. He also has a brother, Jaipal Singh.

Entry into politics
Singh had been associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh since 1964, at the age of 13 and remained connected with the organisation. He also became Shakha Karyavah (General Secretary) of Mirzapur in the year 1972. After 2 years in the year 1974, he entered politics. Between 1969 and 1971 he was the organizational secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (the student wing of the RSS) in Gorakhpur. He became the general secretary of the RSS's Mirzapur branch in 1972. In 1974, he was appointed secretary for the Mirzapur unit of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, predecessor of Bharatiya Janata Party. In 1975, aged 24, Singh was appointed District President of the Jana Sangh.

JP Movement and Emergency
In the 1970s, Singh was influenced by the JP Movement of Jayaprakash Narayan. He was also arrested in the year 1975 during the state of National Emergency for associating with JP Movement and was detained for a time period of 2 years.

Entry into electoral politics
After being released from jail, Singh joined the Janata Party founded by Jayprakash Narayan and contested legislative assembly elections from Mirzapur in 1977. He successfully fought the election and was elected as a Member of Legislative Assembly from Mirzapur.

Rise within BJP
At that time he gained the popularity in State (politics) and then joined BJP in the year 1980 and was one of the initial members of the Party. 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.

Education Minister (1991–1992)
In 1991, when the Bharatiya Janata Party formed its first government in Uttar Pradesh under chief minister Kalyan Singh, he was appointed education minister of Uttar Pradesh. He held the education portfolio for a tenure of two years. Major highlights of his tenure as education minister included the controversial Anti-Copying Act, 1992, which made copying a non-bailable offence, modernising science texts, and incorporating vedic mathematics into the curriculum.

Anti-Copying Act, 1992
Singh helped push the controversial Anti-Copying Act in response to perceived widespread cheating in schools and colleges in Uttar Pradesh. when Mulayam Singh Yadav became the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, heading Bahujan Samaj Party in the year 1993 he repealed the Act.

Modernising the education system
In 1991, Singh led a partial rewrite of history textbooks used in government schools and introduced vedic mathematics into the curriculum. Seen as loyal to the RSS, a Hindu nationalist organisation, Singh's changes to state education policy were widely perceived to have been motivated by his RSS affiliation and ideological kinship with the organisation's leadership. As minister, he also focused on promoting the usage of Indian languages instead of English in courses and instruction. At the same time, he stated his appreciation for knowledge of modern languages.

Union Transport Minister (1999–2000)
In April 1994, he was elected into the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of the Parliament) and 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. On 25 March 1997, he became the President of the BJP's Uttar Pradesh unit and in 1999 became the Union Cabinet Minister for Surface Transport.

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. He was preceded by Ram Prakash Gupta and succeeded by Mayawati after 56 days of President's rule. Contributing to his appointment as state minister were his prior experience as education minister and his grassroots support from his involvement in the anti-corruption JP Movement in the 1970's. At that time there also many leaders in BJP from Uttar Pradesh, but very few had a strong support at the ground level. He was at that time very much close to Atal Bihari Vajpayee and had a very clean image among the people of the State. He also popular among Rajputs (Thakur), a significant community in the state, like Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. Even unlike, L. K. Advani and Kalyan Singh, he was not a leader of Firebrand Hindutva ideology and was a very soft-spoken person.

Notable reforms as chief minister
As chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, he accused the Samajwadi Party of favouring certain communities for jobs. Singh had said that discrimination in job opportunities should end in the state. He tried to rationalise the reservation structure in government jobs by introducing the most Backward Classes among the OBC and SC, so that the reservation system could favour those at the bottom of society..

When Singh took office as chief minister, Uttar Pradesh had the highest state crime rate in India. Singh thus made establishing law and order a key part of his policy. However, after the 2002 Gujarat riots a large portion of the Indian public saw the BJP as complicit in the riots, which undermined the image of Singh's party and contributed to the loss of his position..

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

Resignation
In the year 2002, Singh resigned from the position of chief minister after a 2 year tenure because at that time, the state BJP Government held only a minority government. After his resignation, the state was under President's rule for 56 days, until the 14th Legislative Assembly appointed Mayawati to the position of chief minister for the 3rd time.

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. During this period he initiated a few epoch-making projects including the Kisan Call Centre and Farm Income Insurance Scheme. He brought down interest rates on Agriculture loans and also established Farmer Commission and initiated Farms Income Insurance Scheme.

First time (2005–2009)
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 due to controversial statements over Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and the murder of strategist Pramod Mahajan, Singh sought to rebuild the party by focusing on the most basic Hindutva ideologies. He announced his position of "no compromise" in relation to the building of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya at any cost and commended the rule of Vajpayee as Prime Minister, pointing towards all the developments the NDA made for the ordinary people of India. 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. Singh also suspended Jaswant Singh from the party for praising Jinnah and disrespecting the policies of Jawaharlal Nehru, which also led to a wave of controversies as Jaswant Singh was a very senior leader of the party. Singh had held many positions for the RSS and the BJP, including serving as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and the President of the BJP's youth wing. He advocated a return to a Hindutva platform. Singh resigned after the NDA lost the 2009 Indian general election.

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.

Second time (2013–2014)
On 24 January 2013, following the resignation of Nitin Gadkari due to corruption charges, Singh was re-elected as the BJP's National President.

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." Singh was elected president for his second term after Gadkari stepped down in 2013. Singh played a large role in the BJP's campaign for the 2014 Indian general election, including declaring Narendra Modi the party's Prime Ministerial candidate despite opposition from within the BJP. After the party's landslide victory, Singh resigned the party presidency to assume the position of Home Minister.

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

Union Home Minister (2014–19)
He was appointed the Union Minister of Home Affairs in the Narendra Modi government and was sworn in on 26 May 2014. At that time he was the former president of the party and was the one who named Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister Candidate for the party. After the win of the party in 2014 Lok Sabha Election he took over the position from Sushilkumar Shinde as the Minister of Home Affairs (India) from the year 2014–2019. And he is also the Current Deputy Leader of Lok Sabha from the year 2019.

JNU incident
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. He gave the statement when there was an Anti-National speeches in the JNU Delhi over the anniversary of hanging of Kashmiri Separist Maqbool Bhat and Afzal Guru on 9 February 2016. After the statement there was also a vast protest against Singh and after the arrests of Umar Khalid and Kanhaiya Kumar, he made meeting with many left leaders. He also assured the citizens that what he said was right and he also people assurance of not tolerating the Anti-National Acts. Singh at that time also appointed an SIT for the investigation of the matter.

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

Bharat Ke Veer App
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. Bharat Ke Veer is a fund-raising initiative by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India on behalf of members of the Indian paramilitary Forces. Singh himself praised the app and at that time was the first donor of the app.

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.

Doklam matter
Doklam is a disputed territory between Bhutan and China since the 1950s and when China unilaterally claimed Doklam as its own territory by trying to build a road in the disputed area, the Indian army stepped-in on behalf of Bhutan which created tensions between the Indian Army and Liberation Army of China. Over the matter Singh assured Public to solve the matter and he had talks with officials of the Chinese Communist Party over relations between the two countries. Though the matter was between the Bhutan and China, but when Bhutan sought help from India, then India also indulged in the matter. Singh and Prime Minister Narendra Modi also openely opposed the matter and came in the support of Bhutan. Later, the tension solved at large extent. The main reason was also that Singh also threatened China to stop its import and start of Trade War. On 9 October 2017 China announced that it was ready to maintain peace at frontiers with India reacting to Indian Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Rajnath Singh visit to Nathu La.

Commissioning of Bastariya Battalion
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.

Union Defence Minister (2019–present)
Singh became the Defence minister of India on 31 May 2019. Singh was given Ministry of Defence (India) after Amit Shah was given the Ministry of Home Affairs (India). As Union Defence Minister now, Singh has indicated a subtle shift in India's strategic vision. Among the challenges that the Defence Minister is expected to address are the ever-increasing requirements of India's forces, including increased budgetary requirements, especially in the light of an unstable neighbourhood. After being Defence Minister he had focused mainly on increasing the defence budget of the nation and has focused on decreasing the import of weapons from other nations and making the nation an arms exporter with an arms industry. He also stated that:

"'India cannot put hand on hand in the issues of National Security. Now the time has come that India needs to emerge as major arms exporter.'"

Rafale fighter plane
Dassault Rafale is a fighter plane of French origin whose deal was signed by then Minister of Defence (India), Manohar Parrikar in 2016 to increase the strength of the Indian Air Force. The Government of India had signed to buy 126 fighter jets costing $30 billion.

The planes were received during his tenure as the Defence Minister of India. Though that was also a very controversial issue, Singh received and completed the deal after becoming Minister of Defence of India and the Indian Air Force received its first Dassault Rafale on 8 October 2019, when he personally went to France to receive it. The first fleet of 5 fighter jets landed at Ambala Air Force Station.

India received the second fleet of Rafale jets on 29 July 2020. Singh said that "Those wanting to threaten India's territorial Integrity should be aware of India's new capability."

Indo-China border tension
Since May 2020, there has been tension between the Security forces of India and China over the border region of Ladakh. This situation has seen tension increase as China has put pressure on India. Singh met with officials of the Indian Army and also visited the Ladakh Range. He also met with the Chief of the Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, CNS Admiral Karambir Singh and COAS General Manoj Mukund Naravane to discuss about the situation. After the martyrdom of 20 Indian soldiers during the 2020 China–India skirmishes in Galwan Valley, Singh met with the Indian soldiers. He also said that he can not guarantee to what extent the tension would go. Later the situation was handled.

Then again from the date of 30 August 2020, People's Liberation Army started the controversy of Ladakh area by putting a large number of troops over the controversial area and over this Chinese Communist Party leader Yang Jiechi and People's Liberation Army General Wei stated that the matter was started by the Indian Armed Forces. Chinese General Wei Fenghe and his Indian counterpart Singh held a talk, on 4 September in Moscow, on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting. On 10 September, the foreign affairs ministers of China and India met in Moscow. Five points were agreed upon in a joint statement, including new CBMs between the two countries. On 21 September, the sixth commander-level meeting took place at Chushul-Moldo BPM. The Indian delegation consisted of Lt Gen Harinder Singh, Lt Gen P G K Menon, two major generals, four brigadiers and other officers. The chief of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police was also a part of the delegation. During this meeting, for the first time, a Ministry of External Affairs representative from the Indian side was also present. Following the 14–hour talks, a joint statement was released, which included both sides have agreed to "stop sending more troops to the frontlines.

After the news of the situation became known, Singh assured citizens that the situation is under control and that there is nothing to be worried about. Singh also stated that fake news and rumours were being spread. He also admitted that the Chinese Army has tried to cross the LAC.

On 28 April 2023, Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu met with Rajnath Singh as part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation defence ministers' meeting in New Delhi, making it the first visit to India by a Chinese Defence Minister since the 2020 border skirmishes between Indian and Chinese troops.

Agnipath Scheme
The Defence Ministry introduced a revolutionary army recruitment scheme called Agnipath (Agneepatha), for recruitment of soldiers under the rank of commissioned officers. The recruitment was pursued for all the three forces, and the selected candidates were termed as "Agniveers". This plan is a four-year termed enroll to candidates ageing between 18 - 24 of age. Various protests and oppositions were held, against the scheme, questioning about the future of the candidates, procedure and other standards. Railways were set on fire and suffered losses in Bihar, Telangana and West Bengal; the opposition also called it as an RSS agenda based scheme. The Ministry called it a long pending reform, in the defence field to lower the average of the total military age. Further the Delhi High Court also stated that it finds no reason to interfere in the process and the government has brought this "In national Interest" of the country.

Military exercises
He virtually inaugurated the four-day Indo-Pacific Military Health Exchange (IPMHE) conference.

International military exercises known as Vostok-2022 were launched in Russia's Far East in September 2022, with countries including Russia, India and China taking part in it. On 28 April 2023, Singh met with Russian Minister of Defence Sergei Shoigu.

Personal life
He married Savitri Singh on 5 June 1971, with whom he has two sons and a daughter. His son Pankaj Singh is a politician and Member of the Legislative Assembly from Noida, Uttar Pradesh from BJP. Singh is a devout Hindu and a religious man and is known for soft-spoken behaviour.