Kalyan Singh
At the age of 89, Kalyan Singh breathed his last on 21st August 2021. He was BJP’s first Chief Minister in UP and has also served as the governor of Rajasthan in his illustrious political career. He was born and raised in Atrauli and served as an MLA of Atrauli thrice in his career. He served as CM of Uttar Pradesh for 2 terms and it was during his term that Babri Masjid demolition took place. As soon as, he was admitted to the hospital, Yogi Adityanath, JP Nadda, and other veteran BJP leaders started visiting him at the hospital. After the news of his demise came, CM Yogi Adityanath has announced state mourning for the next 3 days.
Appointed as the CM for the first time in 1991 and soon the state went into Presidency rule after the demolition of Babri Masjid. He was again appointed as the CM of UP in 1997 and served his full terms before Mayawati came into power. For the first time in his career, he fought Lok Sabha elections in 2009 and even though his party did badly in the state, he got elected as MP. After serving his term till 2014, he was appointed as the governor of Rajasthan in 2014. In 2015, he served as governor of Himachal Pradesh for just 7 months before quitting politics citing health issues. He was acquitted in a demolition case in 2020 but no actions were taken as he was ill and had never been to court for the hearing.
Kalyan Singh will always be remembered by BJP as he was the architect of BJP’s win in the state in the 90s when Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati were the chief contenders. His last wish was to see the Ram Mandir being built but had to leave just watching the Bhoomi Poojan. He has been the front runner of the state for years and was also instrumental in BJP winning 71 out of 80 seats in the 2014 general elections. CM Yogi Aditya Nath too has praised the work of Kalyan Singh and seek his blessings before taking CM’s oath in 2017.
Kalyan Singh thus far is the only CM of BJP to serve the state for 2 terms. He is survived by his daughter Prabha Verma, a son named Rajveer Singh, and his wife Ramwati Devi who is also battling various health issues. He was taken for cremation and the crowd gathered in numbers to see the last rites of their ex-CM. Kalyan Singh will always be remembered for his role in the demolition of Babri Masjid and finally being acquitted in that. He had supporters from various other parties but fell prey to rising popularity of other BJP leaders. He Was a party man is what Narendra Modi said in his speech. He did all that his party asked him to and never bossed in any meetings. May his soul Rest in Peace.