We just lost a gem of a leader who never wavered in his conviction and was a hardworking member of parliament who served as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh twice. This is enough for you all to guess this great leader named LateKalyan Singh.
He was the chief minister when the Babri Masjid was demolished in December 1992. While flying the Hindutva banner, he did an excellent job of continuing the agitation.
Early life & Background
Kalyan Singh was born in the village of Atrauli, Uttar Pradesh, on January 5 ,1932. Moreover, he belonged to the Lodhi community. While still in school, Kalyan Singh joined the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh). He was elected to the Atrauli Legislative Assembly for the first time in 1967. Moreover, he completed his education i.e Bachelor’s Degree in Arts and LLB, and from Dharam Samaj Mahavidyalaya, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh.
Kalyan Singh got married to Ramwati Devi and has a son Rajveer Singh who is also a politician.
He took his last breath on August 21, 2021, due to multiple organ failures in Lucknow, UP.
From The Jana Sangh To The BJP, Singh Was A Political Mastermind
It was difficult to forge a fresh path of Hindutva back when the Nehruvian Congress dominated the political landscape. Traveling through the new region was no obstacle for this young social science instructor at the Raipur inter-college of Atrauli in Etah. He quickly earned a name for himself as a Bharatiya Jana Sangh activist, and in 1967 he ran for and won the Atrauli Vidhan Sabha seat on a Jana Sangh ticket.
In his lifetime, Kalyan Singh won nine elections from the same constituency for the Bhartiya Jan Sangh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Janata Party, and the Rashtriya Kranti Party. He served as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh twice before leaving the BJP and creating his political party.
In 2004, he rejoined the BJP and was elected as the Member of Parliament for Bulandshahr.
In 2009, he left the BJP once again and ran for election as an independent candidate in Utah. In 2014, he rejoined the BJP and was appointed Governor of Rajasthan.
In 2019, he returned to active politics. In the same year, he was charged with criminal conspiracy in connection with the demolition of the Babri Masjid.
Kalyan Singh: Well Known As Hindu Hriday Samrat
Kalyan Singh, who combined Mandal and Kamandal – caste identity politics and Hindutva – into a powerful political formula that fueled the BJP’s growth.
Kalyan Singh was one of the first leaders to promote the concept of the Jana Sangh. Singh, firmly rooted in his party’s political ideology, was also gaining an understanding of the region’s caste dynamics. The Hindutva image was also emerging as a powerful Lodhi leader from the lower castes.
Kalyan Singh was known among the party ranks as the “Hindu-Hriday Samrat” long before Narendra Modi rose to public prominence. His rise in the party was lightning fast, with the Babri Masjid being demolished while he was Chief Minister, and his downfall and fadeout were equally as quick.
Kalyan Singh: Pivotal Figure in the Ram Mandir Movement
Despite switching sides and leaving the BJP twice in the interim, Singh would never dispute that he was proud of his choice to deny police permission to act on kar speaks during the Babri Masjid demolition on December 6, 1992.
When plans for the bhumi pujan (groundbreaking ceremony) to commemorate the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya were being finalized in the first week of August 2020, Kalyan Singh told a crowd in Lucknow” that he could finally die peacefully because his dream of seeing the temple built was coming true.”
On that day (December 6), I received a call from the Ayodhya (Faizabad) district magistrate, who informed me that over 3.5 lakh kar sevaks had gathered. “I was told that central soldiers were on their way to the temple town, but they were stopped by kar sevaks outside Saket college.
I was asked if I wanted to command a firing squad or not. “I denied permission in writing and stated in my order, which is still on the files,” Singh claimed, adding that the mosque’s demolition paved the door for the construction of Ram Mandir.
Singh, 89, stated in an interview with the Hindustan Times that this would be his final interview.
Kalyan As A Chief Minister & Decimation
The RSS natural leader became the chosen choice for the job of chief minister after the BJP swept to political power in 1991, obtaining an overwhelming majority in assembly elections. As CM, Singh was pushed by worries about governance, a promised fresh deal for the people, and a devotion to the Ram Mandir project.
As the government purchased 2.27 acres around the disputed site in Ayodhya and began construction on the Ram Chabutra nearby, the issue’s excitement reached dangerous levels. Concerns over the mosque’s safety were raised after the VHP and BJP announced a “Kar Sewa” for Ram Mandir. Singh attempted to calm the situation. In the Supreme Court, he signed an affidavit vowing to protect the structure from further destruction. He didn’t keep his commitment.
His administration was sacked and the state was placed under the President’s control after the Babri mosque was demolished on December 6, 1992. With the first BJP administration gone, the state party and Singh were in jeopardy.
Anxious With His Own Party
The next few years after the demolition served as a wake-up call for both the BJP and Singh. With the mosque razed and backward and Dalit caste-based identity politics on the ascendant, the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party ruled the political spectrum (BSP). In 1997, the BJP regained power, but only after forming an alliance with the BSP.
Singh was re-elected as CM during the coalition era, although his original allure had faded. More of Singh’s critics emerged as a result of party disputes and his political style. When Singh left the BJP and created the Rashtriya Kranti Party in 1999, their differences reached a breaking point.
Experiment that failed miserably, and the BJP’s once-natural leader has been relegated to the background. Even though he rejoined the BJP in 2004, a lot had happened between then and then.
Singh left the BJP in 2009 to join the Jan Kranti Party, unable to reclaim lost popularity. Singh, who was once the temple mascot, has formed an alliance with Mulayam Singh Yadav of the SP, a Socialist who was painted as a villain by the BJP for ordering the firing of guns at
Kar Sevaks in 1989 during his regime.
Ghar Wapsi & After Story
With Narendra Modi’s ascension to the BJP’s throne, it was time for the one-time Hindutva poster child to do a “ghar wapsi.” Modi, the rising “Hindu hriday samrat,” had nothing but admiration for Singh. Singh rejoined the party and pledged to do everything in his power to serve it. Singh retired from electoral politics when he grew older, and the BJP replaced him with his son Rajveer from his Etah constituency. Modi selected Singh as the governor of Rajasthan shortly after taking office as Prime Minister of India in 2014. He held the position for five years, till September 2019.
A year later, in September 2020, he and 32 others were acquitted in the long-running case of the Babri Mosque demolition by a CBI special court. It was a watershed moment for Singh, whose term saw the mosque demolished. The acquittal occurred a year after the landmark Supreme Court decision in the Ayodhya title litigation, in which the Hindu side was awarded the whole disputed land, paving the path for the construction of the Ram temple.
Kalyan Singh led an incredible life by defining his conditions of political activity while retaining his self-respect and dignity. He was far from the idea of the archetypal pragmatic politician who could be subjected to Orwellian scrutiny.
