Kalyan Singh : The pillar of Ram Mandir movement

 Er. Prabhat Kishore

The  country  witnessed   two  major  movements in the early Nineties,  one the  Mandal  and other the  Kamandal (i.e. Ram  Mandir)  Movement.  Overall, the  Mandal Movement  was  led  by the OBC  leadership  of socialist  background , while the  Mandir  movement  was   led  by  the  Upper caste  leadership  of  Jan  Sangh  &  RSS  background.  The  nineties  also  saw  the  emergence  of  some  powerful  backward  leaders in the BJP like  Kalyan  Singh, Vinay  Katiyar,  Om  Prakash  Singh & others  , who  helped  it  to  gain  power  at the  centre in the long run .  In strengthening  the  roots  of  BJP  among  depressed  sections  of  the  society  and  expanding  its  mass  base,  these    leaders  offer  their  best.

Born  on  5^th January  1932  in  a  backward  Lodh  family,  Kalyan  Singh  played a significant  role  in the  power  politics of Uttar  Pradesh.  In  his early life,  he  worked  as a  Swayamsevak  of  RSS.  He  contested for the  first  time   in  1967  from  Atrauli  constituency  for the  Uttar  Pradesh  Vidhan  Sabha  on Bharatiya  Jan  Sangh  ticket.  He  contested  ten  times from the  same constituency  and  won  nine  times,  except  in 1980.  He  was  jailed  for  21  months during the Emergency  in  1975,  . In 1977  he  was  included in  the State  cabinet as the Health Minister. He  was  BJP state  general  secretary  in  1980  and  president  in  1984  and  1987.  In 1989 he became the leader of  the BJP  in the UP  Vidhan  Sabha.

Articulate & politically suave, Kalyan Singh  was the chief architect of the  Ayodhya movement. He was the prominent leader of the BJP, formulating   and executing the strategies for the Party's rise in UP, the most populous & central power controlling   state.  In  1991,  when the BJP  got  an absolute  majority  under  his  leadership  in the UP  Vidhan  Sabha  election,  he  was  sworn  in as  the 16^th  Chief  Minister  on  24^th  June  1991.  After the  demolition  of the disputed  Ram Mandir-Babri structure in Ayodhya  on  6th December 1992, he resigned from the Chief Minister post  owing  moral  responsibility  and  President  Rule  was  imposed  by the  President Shankar  Dayal  Sharma.

The short tenure of Kalyan Singh is remembered for  strict & good governance in the State and reforms in various sectors. He gave impetus to the development works with social justice. His government chalked out a Masterplan for the development of the historical & spiritual place of Ayodhya and  acquired 2.27 Acre of land surrounding the disputed structure for the construction of the Ram Chabutara.

Although he had given an affidavit in the Supreme  Court that he would not allow damage to the structure, he refused to order fire on the crowd when the  Karsevaks turned aggressive and demolished it.  Along   with  other  stalwarts  he  was  also  accused of  conspiring over  the  incident,  which  he  vehemently  denied.  He  clarified  that  the  incident  was  an  outpouring of  the  sentiments of  Crores  of  people,  whose  aspirations  have  been  forcibly  subdued  for  hundreds  of  years.  Despite  all  security  arrangements,  the  structure came down.  Had  firing been ordered,  thousands  of  people  would  have  been killed.  His  sacrifice  of the  Chief Ministership did not go in  vain; as in case of no demolition probably the courts would have ordered Status Quo.

He again  became the Chief  Minister  of  UP  on  21^st  September  1997 according  to the  6-month rotational  power-sharing  formula  between the  BJP  and  the BSP. The BSP  withdrew  support to the  government,  but  with  the  support of  a  faction of  Congress  Legislatures,  he  continued  as  CM. On  21^st  February  1998, Naresh   Agrawal  withdrew support to the government. The  Governor Romesh  Bhandari dismissed the government and invited Jagdambika Pal to form the Government; but  the  Allahabad High Court did  not   allow the  formation of such a type of   government.  Ultimately Naresh  Agrawal  had to return back to the  BJP. Kalyan Singh proved his majority and formed the government again.   On having a tussle  with  Party  stalwart  Atalji  he had to resign on 12th November 1999 and ultimately  he  left  BJP  in  December  1999.

He   formed the  political outfit “ Rashtriya  Kranti  Dal “;  but in 2004, on the  request of Vajpayee he came back into BJP and  became an MP  from  the  Bulandshahar  Lok  Sabha  constituency.  He again got upset with the BJP and  became a member of Lok Sabha from Etawah constituency  in 2009  as an independent candidate.  He  joined SP in  2009, but returned  back to BJP in 2013.

He  served  as  the  21^st  Governor  of  Rajasthan  from  4^th  September  2014   to  8^th  September  2019 and  was  given  the  additional charge of Governor  of  HP  from  28^th  January  2015  to  12^th  August  2015. When the Supreme Court judgement   came in 2019 to pave the way for Ram Janma  Bhoomi  Mandir, he did not  hesitate to express  his pleasure.  He said that his dream has been fulfilled  &   he  wanted  to  live  till  the  Mandir  is  constructed. In November 2020, a special CBI court had   acquitted all 32 accused in disputed structure demolition case.