BJP's new president Rajnath Singh: Here's all you need to know about him

Here are some little known facts about the man who has become the BJP’s president for a second term: - He was born on 10 July, 1951 at Bhabhaura village in Uttar Pradesh’s Chandauli district and obtained  MSc degree in physics from Gorakhpur University. He was appointed lecturer in the KB post graduate degree college in Mirzapur in 1971. -   Singh’s association with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh began in 1964 when he was only 13 -years- old. Even as lecturer he remained attached to RSS. - Singh is married with two sons and a daughter. [caption id=“attachment_599335” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Singh has been a member of the RSS since his teenage years. Reuters[/caption] - Rajnath Singh began his political innings with BJP’s student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in 1969 as its organising secretary in Gorakhpur and rose to become the secretary of the then Bharatiya Jan Sangh’s Mirzapur unit in 1974. - During the Emergency, Singh joined Jaiprakash Narayan’s movement and was arrested in July 1975 before being released in 1977. - Singh made his debut in electoral politics when he became an MLA in Uttar Pradesh in 1977. In 1983, he became state Secretary of BJP and a year later he found himself leading the Uttar Pradesh unit of BJP’s Youth Wing (BJYM). -  He was elevated to National General Secretary of BJYM in 1986 and  subsequently its National President in 1988. - In 1988, Singh was elected Member, Legislative Council in UP, a position he held till 1994, serving in between as Education Minister in the Kalyan Singh government until it was dismissed in December 1992 following the Babri Masjid demolition. - As Education Minister in UP, Singh had courted controversy by enacting the Anti-Copying Act which had opposition parties up in arms against him. -  Singh’s entered Parliament came only in 1994 when he was given a Rajya Sabha ticket and also appointed Chief Whip of the BJP in the Upper House. - Brought back as party president in UP in 1997 in the wake of turbulence in state politics in 1997 and held the position till 1999 when he was first inducted into Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government as Surface Transport Minister. - On 28 October, 2000, he was chosen to succeed veteran leader Ram Prakash Gupta as Chief Minister of UP. Singh remained at the helm till 2002 when the party faced a drubbing at the hands of Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party in the state. - After BJP decided to support BSP chief Mayawati as chief minister of UP, a move Singh had opposed, he returned to national politics as BJP’s national General Secretary. Soon, Singh, hailing from a farmer’s family, again found his way back into the Vajpayee cabinet as Agriculture Minister after Ajit Singh parted ways with NDA in 2003. - Singh’s journey up BJP hierarchy continued as he became its national President on December 31, 2005. His stint at the party helm saw BJP scoring some high points as it captured power in several states and also installed its first-ever government in Karnataka creating history by hoisting the saffron flag in the South as the ruling party. - Authored a book titled “Unemployment, its Reasons and Remedies”. - He was BJP chief from 2006 to 2009 after earning the reputation of being an able administrator. -  After taking over BJP’s reins from veteran leader LK Advani in December 2005, Rajnath Singh sought to rebuild the party by focusing on basic Hindutva ideologies and said there would be “no compromise” on building the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.