State News
Raman Singh is now BJP's longest-serving CM. What makes him tick?
By IndianMandarins- 27 Jul 2016
1877
Chhatisgarh CM Dr Raman Singh has just touched a new milestone: On 25 July, he completed 4,613 days or 12 years and 230 days in office, pipping Narendra Modi's record as the BJP's longest serving chief minister. However, the record of being the longest-serving chief minister in India stands in the name of Jyoti Basu who was the chief minister of West Bengal for more than 23 years - from June 21, 1977, to November 5, 2000.
In his three-decade-long political career, Singh has built an enviable brand image. The former ayurvedic doctor was nicknamed "Chawal Wale Baba" after he launched a scheme to provide rice for as little as Re 1 per kg to poor families through fair price shops. It was this single move that helped him win a second term in 2008.
He later won appreciation for putting in place a transparent PDS system; it was even acknowledged by the then prime minister Manmohan Singh who advised other states to adopt Chhattisgarh's model. By making Chhattisgarh an energy surplus and "zero power cut" state, he distinguished himself as a chief minister committed to development.
Raman Singh, 63, hails from a small town called Kawardha. He joined Jan Sangh, the forerunner of the BJP, in the early 1970s and went on to become president of its Yuwa Morcha in 1977, a year after completing his bachelor's in Ayurveda Medicine and Surgery. He then contested polls to the Kawardha Municipality and became a councillor. In the 90s, he was twice elected to the assembly of the undivided Madhya Pradesh in '90 and '93. In 1999, he was elected to Parliament from Rajnandgaon and was made a minister of state for commerce and industry in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee regime.
His acid test came in 2003 when the BJP leadership asked him to quit the Vajpayee ministry to lead the party into that year's election in Chhattisgarh, which had been carved out of Madhya Pradesh in 2000 and was holding its first assembly election. It was a tough assignment as the state was considered a Congress stronghold just as the neighbouring MP it has been created out of. In 2000, Digvijaya Singh of the Congress was the chief minister of MP and when the new state was created, the Congress installed former bureaucrat Ajit Jogi as the CM. The election was a high-voltage political drama with Jogi at the center stage and the odds were stacked against the BJP. Still, it won.
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Raman Singh is now BJP's longest-serving CM. What makes him tick?
By IndianMandarins - 2016-07-27 10:48:58
Chhatisgarh CM Dr Raman Singh has just touched a new milestone: On 25 July, he completed 4,613 days or 12 years and 230 days in office, pipping Narendra Modi's record as the BJP's longest serving chief minister. However, the record of being the longest-serving chief minister in India stands in the name of Jyoti Basu who was the chief minister of West Bengal for more than 23 years - from June 21, 1977, to November 5, 2000.
In his three-decade-long political career, Singh has built an enviable brand image. The former ayurvedic doctor was nicknamed "Chawal Wale Baba" after he launched a scheme to provide rice for as little as Re 1 per kg to poor families through fair price shops. It was this single move that helped him win a second term in 2008.
He later won appreciation for putting in place a transparent PDS system; it was even acknowledged by the then prime minister Manmohan Singh who advised other states to adopt Chhattisgarh's model. By making Chhattisgarh an energy surplus and "zero power cut" state, he distinguished himself as a chief minister committed to development.
Raman Singh, 63, hails from a small town called Kawardha. He joined Jan Sangh, the forerunner of the BJP, in the early 1970s and went on to become president of its Yuwa Morcha in 1977, a year after completing his bachelor's in Ayurveda Medicine and Surgery. He then contested polls to the Kawardha Municipality and became a councillor. In the 90s, he was twice elected to the assembly of the undivided Madhya Pradesh in '90 and '93. In 1999, he was elected to Parliament from Rajnandgaon and was made a minister of state for commerce and industry in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee regime.
His acid test came in 2003 when the BJP leadership asked him to quit the Vajpayee ministry to lead the party into that year's election in Chhattisgarh, which had been carved out of Madhya Pradesh in 2000 and was holding its first assembly election. It was a tough assignment as the state was considered a Congress stronghold just as the neighbouring MP it has been created out of. In 2000, Digvijaya Singh of the Congress was the chief minister of MP and when the new state was created, the Congress installed former bureaucrat Ajit Jogi as the CM. The election was a high-voltage political drama with Jogi at the center stage and the odds were stacked against the BJP. Still, it won.
