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Remembering Kalyan Singh: BJP's First Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister
Writer: Nida Fatima
Nida Fatima is enrolled in Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi. She has done her Bachelors in Science and now she is pursuing Master’s in Mass Communication. She is an effective communicator aspiring to be a journalist with conscience, clarity, reason and balance.
Uttar Pradesh, 22 Aug 2021 1:00 PM GMT
Editor : Ankita Singh |
A literature lover who likes delving deeper into a wide range of societal issues and expresses her opinions about the same. Keeps looking for best-read recommendations while enjoying her coffee and tea.
Creatives : Nida Fatima
Nida Fatima is enrolled in Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi. She has done her Bachelors in Science and now she is pursuing Master’s in Mass Communication. She is an effective communicator aspiring to be a journalist with conscience, clarity, reason and balance.
Singh was elected to the UP Assembly from the Atrauli assembly constituency as a Jan Sangh member for the first time in 1967.
Kalyan Singh, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, was the first Bharatiya Janata Party's government in the state in 1991. He died of sepsis and multi-organ failure at Lucknow's Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences on August 21, 2021.
Born on January 5, 1932, at Mdholi village in Aligarh district, Singh was a member of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh while he was in school. He was a harbinger of present-day BJP, who redefined saffron politics. Credited as a pioneer of backward caste leaders, he made several contributions to empower people belonging to marginalized sections of society.
A staunch voice that gave a pertinent mantra, to never beg people for your rights, instead snatch from the one who deprives you of the same. Kalyan Singh praised VP Singh for his decision to implement the Mandal Commission Report and described him as a messiah of the deprived.
His Political Journey In Uttar Pradesh
Singh was elected to the UP Assembly from the Atrauli assembly constituency as a Jan Sangh member for the first time in 1967. The split of Janata Party because of the dual membership issue (being a member of Janata Party as well as of the RSS), Kalyan Singh along with his other Jan Sangh colleagues, joined the BJP. He was elected as state general secretary in 1980 and as BJP state president in 1984. He then became a BJP leader in the Uttar Pradesh legislature after the 1989 Assembly elections.
Kalyan Singh plunged to greater heights and soon became the face of the party. He left BJP thrice, twice over the differences with party leadership and then in 2014 after being appointed as Rajasthan's Governor. He was the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh during the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992 and resigned from his post after the incident.
In a speech after demolition, he outlined his innocence by stating that he will never order firing on the karsevaks. Last year when he appeared as an accused before the special CBI Court in Lucknow, he pleaded innocence and claimed that his government had taken measures to protect Babri Masjid. In September 2020, Singh, along with other BJP leaders including Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and other VHP leaders, was acquitted.
"He leaves behind an indelible contribution towards the development of Uttar Pradesh," Modi tweeted, stressing that "generations to come will remain forever grateful to Kalyan Singh Ji for his contributions towards India's cultural regeneration."
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who rushed to SGPGI soon after Singh's death, announced a three-day mourning in the state.
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