Shri Rajnath Singh, Hon’ble Defence Minister (Raksha Mantri), Government of India—delivered the Keynote Address in the “MARG-DARSHAN” Session on Day Three of the Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue 2022. Shri Rajnath Singh also released one of the Maritime Perspectives volumes: Coastal Security Dimensions of Maritime Security
About Shri Rajnath Singh
Shri Rajnath Singh was born on 10 July 1951 in a farmer’s family at village Babhora, District Varanasi (now district Chandauli) in the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP). He received his basic education in the village and subsequently, he completed his MSc Physics from Gorakhpur University, UP. He worked as a lecturer of Physics at K.B. Post-Graduate College Mirzapur, UP. He became the RSS karyavah (General Secretary) of Mirzapur city in 1972. He was also the organisational secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Gorakhpur division from 1969 to 1971. He entered politics in 1974, and in 1977, he was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. He was elected as Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) for Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council in 1988 and became the state’s Education Minister in 1991. During his tenure as Education Minister in UP, he became Union Surface Transport Minister. During this period, he got the opportunity to initiate the National Highway Development Programme (NHDP), a dream project of India’s former prime minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. On 28 October 2000, he became the Chief Minister of UP and was twice elected as MLA from Haidargarh constituency in Barabanki. On 24 May 2003, he became Union Minister of Agriculture and subsequently the minister for Food Processing. During this period, he initiated a few epoch-making projects like Kisan Call Centre and Farm Income Insurance Scheme. He also embarked on ‘Bharat Suraksha Yatra’, which covered several States, taking up the cause of rising threats to internal security. Shri Rajnath Singh became the BJP National President on 31 December 2005, a post he held till 19 December 2009. In May 2009, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh. On 26 May 2014, Shri Rajnath Singh took oath as the Union Minister for Home Affairs, a portfolio he held till 30 May 2019. On 31 May 2019, Shri Rajnath Singh was allocated the portfolio of Union Minister for Ministry of Defence.
