The construction of a Ram Mandir in Ayodhya was central to the emergence and rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to become the largest political organization. And, Kalyan Singh was the core of the Ram Mandir campaign In 1992 the Mughal Babri Masjid was demolished. Kalyan Singh was Prime Minister of Uttar Pradesh at the time.
Before entering politics, Kalyan Singh was a volunteer with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Aligarh, his hometown, where he was a minor wrestler. After completing his training, Kalyan Singh got a job as a teacher in Uttar Pradesh.
But he had his wrestler’s gift for politics. He was once a figurehead of Hindutva. Another identity that Kalyan Singh carried out was that of a leader of the Lodhs, a community that accounts for about 4-5 percent in Uttar Pradesh but is influential even in Madhya Pradesh.
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THE RISE
His rise came after his arrest during the state of emergency imposed by the Indira Gandhi government. When he was released from prison after 21 months and formed the coalition of the Janata Party in several states in 1977, Kalyan Singh became Minister of Health of Uttar Pradesh.
He was also president of the Uttar Pradesh unit of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh (BJS), the forerunner of the BJP. The Janata Party’s experiment failed and the BJS was reborn as the BJP in 1980.
In the 1980s, the BJP was looking for a catapulting idea that it got in the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) campaign for the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. LK Advani became the BJP face of the Ayodhya campaign.
But Vishwanath Pratap Singh, the former prime minister who came to power in the Lok Sabha in 1989 with the support of the BJP, provided another hiatus in Kalyan Singh’s political career.
When VP Singh saw a threat to the stability of his government because of the domestic politics of his Janata Dal, he threw the mandal (a report recommending a quota for OBCs) on the spit. The BJP was already pushing for Ram Mandir. A fight between mandal and kamandal (elongated water pot for performing religious rituals) ensued.
The BJP was then dominated by upper-caste leaders. Mandal politics demanded greater participation of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) in politics just like in training and work. Kalyan Singh’s Lodh identity made him the launch pad of the BJP.
THE START PAD
Kalyan Singh was the right man at the right moment for the BJP. He was a staunch supporter of the campaign for the Ram Mandir building in Ayodhya. He strongly opposed the then Prime Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mulayam Singh Yadav. And he belonged to an OBC caste, which gave the RSS leverage to prevent the caste from becoming mandalized, and the BJP the opportunity to expand its base among the largest vote banks.
The BJP has the Ekatma Yatra. brought to life with Kalyan Singh who leads the nationwide tour. The BJP leaders should travel to all corners of the country and fill pots with water from rivers to be poured into other rivers, which is a common purpose.
Kalian Singh turned out to be a brilliant activist. One particular rally in Calcutta drew such a large crowd the city had not seen in decades. Kalyan Singh was at the forefront of his popularity and has given the BJP the biggest boost to date.
EXECUTIVE MINISTER
Uttar Pradesh went to the polls in 1991 and the BJP stormed to power, improving by 164. Of 425 assembly seats – Uttarakhand was not yet an independent state – the BJP won 221 polls in 2017 when the BJP increased its number by 265 seats.
He has not finished his term of office. But Kalyan Singh laid the foundation stone for the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya again. Soon after Kalyan Singh became Prime Minister in June 1991, he visited Ayodhya and promised to build the Ram Mandir there.
DRESSED FOR RAM MANDIR
Within six months (October 1991), the government of Kalyan Singh issued a notice regarding the acquisition of 2.77 hectares of land around the Babri Masjid complex. It was made for the purpose of building Ram Mandir. With the Supreme Court ruling Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid in 2019, that piece of land went to the Ram Mandir Trust.
In July 1992 a three meter high concrete platform was raised by digging an area around the Babri Masjid. Kalyan Singh’s government said it was intended for devotees to perform bhajan (a reverent song). The VHP then called it the creation of Ram Mandir.
In the meantime, Kar Seva (volunteer work) began for the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Workers from RSS, VHP and other affiliates should reach Ayodhya to put pressure on the construction of Ram Mandir. The leaders and workers of the BJP and the Shiv Sena were part of the Kar Seva.
There were fears that the Babri Masjid might be damaged. The government of Kalyan Singh informed the center and the Supreme Court that it would not allow the Kar Sevaks to damage the Babri Masjid.
The Babri Masjid was overthrown on December 6, 1992. The Kalyan Singh government had refused to use force against the Kar Sevaks, who had gathered by the thousands in Ayodhya. Late in the evening, Kalyan Singh resigned and took on the moral responsibility of not protecting the Babri Masjid.
Former Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh returns to BJP on Monday 9 September 2019 in Lucknow. (PTI photo)
THE BABRI FALL
Kalyan Singh is one of the defendants in the pending demolition proceedings of Babri Masjid. The indictment of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) states that Kalyan Singh did nothing to protect Babri Masjid as UP chief minister, despite assurances before the National Integration Council.
Kalyan Singh received immunity from prosecution for five years during his tenure as governor of Rajasthan, 2014-2019. Incidentally, he was the first governor of Rajasthan to complete a five-year term in 52 years.
In 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that Kalyan Singh could be prosecuted in the Babri case once his immunity expires after he resigned as governor.
POLITICAL WRESTLER
After seeing public support and frantic slogans at his rallies, Kalyan Singh may overestimate himself. This was evident in the elections that took place after the demolition of Babri.
In 1993 the BJP was defeated in the polls in Uttar Pradesh and won 176 seats. In 1997 it won 177th Kalyan Singh’s OBC pull didn’t work for the BJP.
- In 1997, an embarrassing agreement was reached with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati, who would serve as prime minister for six months, followed by an equivalent term for Kalyan Singh.
- Mayawati withdrew her support when her six-month period ended. Kalyan Singh’s face remained red.
- His second and third terms were interrupted by a 24-hour term from Jagdambika Pal, now with the BJP.
- Then Governor Romesh Bhandari dismissed the Kalyan Singh government. Jagdambika Pal was sworn in, but a Supreme Court order overturned the governor’s decision and brought the Kalyan Singh government back.
The BJP had risen nationwide in the 1990s by Ram Mandir of Kalyan Singh, but he was angry within the party.
- In the 1999 Lok Sabha polls, Kalyan Singh went so far as to ‘sabotage’ the election of then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Lucknow.
- Then BJP President LK Advani dismissed him.
- In 2004 he rejoined the BJP, but lost the parliamentary elections.
- In 2009, Kalyan Singh left the BJP to contest Lok Sabha as an independent candidate and to become a member of parliament.
- Before the 2014 elections, in which his son Rajveer Singh was installed by the party, he rejoined the BJP. Rajveer Singh is a deputy from Lok Sabha in his second term.
RAM MANDIR POLITICIAN
Technically, Kalyan Singh had three terms as prime minister and never ended a five-year term. His tenure was praised for stopping cheating on school exams, a misconduct that defamed education in Uttar Pradesh.
This file photo dated April 6, 2004 shows the leading BJP leaders LK Advani and Kalyan Singh in Ayodhya (PTI).
In 1992 he introduced the anti-copying law. But he also introduced controversial disciplinary ideas into schools, such as saying Vande Mataram instead of “yes sir” or “yes, madam” during roll call. But Ram Mandir remains the high point of his political career.
- During his second term as Prime Minister, the Kalyan Singh government decided in February 1998 to withdraw all proceedings against those related to the Ram Mandir campaign.
- Then he explained that the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya would be built if the BJP formed a majority government in the center.
The BJP won its own majority in 2014 and improved it in 2019. In 2020 Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
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