Dr Raman Singh – The ‘Chawal Wale Baba’ Of Chhattisgarh (image-facebook/dr raman singh)
Dr Raman Singh, the former chief minister, is the most identifiable BJP candidate in the state of Chhattisgarh. Though being a silent performer, he was widely regarded as the “chawal wale baba” for his Public Distribution System initiatives. Raman Singh is a respected figure from the BJP and also one of the longest-serving chief ministers of BJP.
This time, Raman Singh will contest election in Rajnandgaon constituency against the Congress candidate Girish Dewangan. He was at the forefront of the development of the state during his term in governance.
Raman Singh was born in 1952 in Kawardha in undivided Madhya Pradesh. He perused Ayurveda and completed his Bachelors of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) from the Government Ayurveda college in Raipur in 1975.
His political career began in Syama Prasad Mookerjee-founded Bharatiya Jan Sangh, which later merged with the Janata party. But in 1980, the Janata party was dissolved and resulted in the formation of Bharatiya Janata Party.
Mr Singh was then appointed as the youth president of Jana Sangh’s district unit in 1976 and became the municipal councilor in Kawardha after winning his first election in 1983.
After seven years, he contested the assembly election and got elected as an MLA from Kawardha. His victory saga continued in 1993 election too. He faced his first loss five years later against the Congress candidate Yogeshwar Raj Singh, the scion of the Kawardha royal family. But he once again contested Lok Sabha elections and won from the Rajnandgaon seat, defeating the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Motilal Vora. This win became a turning point in his political career. He was then titled ‘The Giant Killer’ and even attained the position of minister of state for commerce and industry in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee cabinet.
But unfortunately, after the division of the state, BJP was not able to benefit from it. Congress’s Ajit Jogi emerged as the state’s first chief minister. BJP had to wait till 2003 for their turn. In the assembly election, BJP won the assembly election with majority of 50 out of 90 seats. The BJP’s face Dilip Singh Judeo was mired in a corruption scandal and thus the party opted Raman Singh to be their chief minister.
Though he was widely regarded for his 15 years as chief minister, his government faced several allegations which includes, corruption, the state-sponsored militia, Salwa Judum, created in the name to take on Maoists which later became controversial after allegations of violence against the villagers.
But his highly praised development projects for the state includes Chhattisgarh Food Security Act, 2012 implemented to provide food and nutrition security.
The win of the Congress party in the 2018 assembly election was a major blow to the BJP as the grand old party was able to win a majority of 68 out of 90 seats. Meanwhile, BJP seats got reduced to 15 from 49 seats acquired in its previous elections.
