Meet the new BJP president
Though he was not as high profile as some of the others, Rajnath Singh was very involved in the Ayodhya movement, which led to the demolition of the Babri Masjid in December 1992.
After the Kalyan Singh government was dismissed in the aftermath of the demolition, Rajnath was made a Rajya Sabha member in 1994 and also the chief whip of the party in the Upper House of Parliament. Three years later, he took over as president of the UP unit of the BJP.
In 1999, he was appointed surface transport minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. It was during his tenure that the National Highway Development Project was launched.
A year after his run as UP chief minister ended with a drubbing for the BJP in the 2002 polls, Rajnath was re-inducted in the Vajpayee Cabinet as agriculture minister.
Interestingly, the new BJP president has won few elections in his life. He was twice elected MLA from Haidargarh constituency, besides his debut election in 1977.
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