Rajnath Singh: for RSS, he's just the man for the job

In 2013, Rajnath Singh was picked as BJP chief for the second time in a bid to rejuvenate the saffron party. He was elected unopposed for a two-year term till 2015 after scandal-tainted Nitin Gadkari resigned and opted out of the race. Singh resigned as party president in the wake of 2009 electoral debacle. 

 

Hailing from Uttar Pradesh's Chandauli district, he made debut in electoral politics in 1977 when he was elected MLA from the Mirzapur. In 1991, as an education minister in first BJP government in UP led by Kalyan Singh, he introduced strict anti-copying law to clean up the corrupt education system in the state. 

 

Singh, a Lok Sabha lawmaker from Ghaziabad, emerged as the tallest Thakur leader in UP. He had been a Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh volunteer right from his childhood. Singh made his debut into student politics in 1969 while he was pursuing his degree at the Gorakhpur University.

 

He became MP Rajya Sabha in 1994 and also the party's chief whip in the upper House. In 2000, Singh became the chief minister of UP. Considering that it was a time of crisis for the party, he did a great job and was responsible for building a positive image for the party.