Kalyan Singh facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kalyan Singh
Singh in September 2014
21st Governor of Rajasthan
In office 4 September 2014 – 8 September 2019
Preceded by	Margaret Alva
Succeeded by	Kalraj Mishra
Governor of Himachal Pradesh (Additional charge)
In office 28 January 2015 – 12 August 2015
Preceded by	Urmila Singh
Succeeded by	Acharya Devvrat
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 2009–2014
Preceded by	Devendra Singh Yadav
Succeeded by	Rajveer Singh
Constituency	Etah
In office 2004–2009
Preceded by	Chhatrapal Singh Lodha
Succeeded by	Kamlesh Balmiki
Constituency	Bulandshahr
16th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
In office 21 September 1997 – 12 November 1999
Preceded by	Mayawati
Succeeded by	Ram Prakash Gupta
In office 24 June 1991 – 6 December 1992
Preceded by	Mulayam Singh Yadav
Succeeded by	President's rule
Leader of the Opposition Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly
In office 4 July 1993 – 12 June 1995
Chief Minister	Mulayam Singh Yadav
Preceded by	Rewati Raman Singh
Succeeded by	Mulayam Singh Yadav
Minister of state for Health Government of Uttar Pradesh
In office 1977–1980
Chief Minister	Ram Naresh Yadav Banarsi Das
Member of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly
In office 1985–2004
Preceded by	Anwar Khan
Succeeded by	Premlata Devi
Constituency	Atrauli
In office 1967–1980
Preceded by	Babu Singh
Succeeded by	Anwar Khan
Constituency	Atrauli
Personal details
Born	(1932-01-05)5 January 1932 Atrauli, United Provinces, British India (present-day Uttar Pradesh, India)
Died	21 August 2021(2021-08-21) (aged 89) Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party
Spouse	Ramwati Devi (1952–2021) (his death)
Children	2 (including Rajveer Singh)
Awards	Padma Vibhushan (2021) (posthumous)

Kalyan Singh (5 January 1932 – 21 August 2021) was an Indian politician and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He served twice as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and as a Member of Parliament. He was the Chief minister of Uttar Pradesh during the demolition of the Babri Masjid in December 1992. He is considered an icon of Hindu nationalism, and of the agitation to build a Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Early life and family

Kalyan Singh was born in Aligarh district in the United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh) in 1932. His family belonged to the Lodhi community. Singh was a swayamsevak, or volunteer, of the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, becoming a member while still in school. His son, Rajveer Singh, and grandson, Sandeep Singh, are also politicians and members of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Political career

Singh became a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh while still in school. He entered the Uttar Pradesh legislature as a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Atrauli in 1967. He won nine more elections to that constituency as a member of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the BJP, the Janata Party and the Rashtriya Kranti Party. Singh was appointed Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for the first time in 1991.

As Chief Minister, Singh attempted to run an efficient administration, while also expressing strong support for the agitation to build a temple in Ayodhya. Under Singh's leadership, the Uttar Pradesh government acquired 2.77 acres (1.12 ha) of land adjacent to the Babri Masjid property. The purchase was ostensibly to construct tourist facilities, but it allowed Hindus to conduct religious rituals at the site without directly addressing the legal status of the Babri Masjid. He and other national leaders of the BJP, including Murli Manohar Joshi, traveled to the disputed site, and promised to build a Hindu temple there. The Singh government also removed Baba Lal Das, the Hindu priest who headed the temple that existed within the Babri Masjid complex, in March 1992. Lal Das had been a vocal opponent of the agitation to build a Hindu temple over the Babri Masjid.

Following the demolition of the Babri Masjid, Singh had to resign. He became Chief Minister for a second term in 1997, but was removed by his party in 1999, and left the BJP, forming his own party.

Singh re-entered the BJP in 2004, and was elected a Member of Parliament from Bulandshahar. He left the BJP for a second time in 2009, and successfully contested the 2009 Indian general election as an independent from Etah. He joined the BJP again in 2014, and was appointed Governor of Rajasthan.

He served a five-year term, and re-entered active politics in 2019. In September 2019 he was brought to trial for criminal conspiracy to demolish the Babri Masjid. He was acquitted by a special court of the Central Bureau of Investigation in 2020.

Illness and death

Singh was taken ill on 3 July 2021, after he complained of nausea and difficulty in breathing. He was admitted to Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences, where the doctors suspected renal issues. Singh died at the age of 89 on 21 August 2021 at the SGPGI, suffering from sepsis and multi-organ failures. He was posthumously awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian award, in January 2022.