Rajnath Singh – the dark horse in the race

Biplob Ghosal

Rajnath Singh's rise from a being college lecturer to holding the top post of the Bharatiya Janata Party has been quite dramatic. Rajnath, who has served as the Uttar Pradesh chief minister, is known to be a an able administrator and an articulate leader.

He became the BJP national president on December 31, 2005, a post he held till December 19, 2009. Rajnath's second stint as BJP president is turning out to be quite eventful, as he is not only entrusted with the task of bringing back BJP back into power, but also to form alliances with other parties ahead of the national elections. He played a key role in bringing top BJP leaders on board to accept Narendra Modi as party's PM candidate for elections 2014.

Born on 10 July 1951, Rajnath has a M.Sc (Physics) degree from Gorakhpur University, Uttar Pradesh.

In 1983, he became a state secretary of UP BJP and 1984 he became a state president of BJP’s Youth Wing (BJYM). In 1986, he became national general secretary of BJYM and subsequently national president of BJYM in 1988. On October 28, 2000, he became Chief Minister of UP and was twice elected as MLA from Haidargarh constituency in Barabanki. In 2002, he became national general secretary of BJP. Rajnath Singh also had a brief stint at the Centre in 2003-2004 when he served as agriculture minister.

Come 2014, he has famously made the switch from Ghaziabad, from where he had won in 2009, to Lucknow.

He has since claimed the legacy of BJP stalwart Atal Behari Vajpayee and has assured the people of the city of Nawabs that he will work to finish the dreams that Vajpayee had for the city.

But in a larger context, Rajnath seems to be keen to occupy the space Vajpayee occupied in the party. The former prime minister commanded unflinching support of party workers and was always seen as a moderate face.

Rajnath may be backing Modi as PM, but he surely considers himself as a black horse in the race, who can have a shot at the top job if the man from Gujarat fails to deliver the numbers.