Modi govt 2.0: Rajnath Singh gets Defence Ministry

Rajnath Singh, Union Home Minister in the 16th Lok Sabha, has been given the post of Defence Minister in the 17th Lok Sabha under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A MSc degree holder in Physics, Rajnath Singh had been associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh since 1946 when he was just 13 years of age. In 1974, he became secretary of the Mirzapur unit of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, predecessor of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

In 1975 he was appointed District President of the Jana Sangh. In 1977, he was elected Member of Legislative Assembly from the Mirzapur.In 1984, he became the State President of the BJP youth wing,the National general secretary in 1986 and the National President in 1988. He was also elected into the Uttar Pradesh legislative council.

In 1991, he became Education Minister in the first BJP government in Uttar Pradesh. In 1994, he was elected into the Rajya Sabha and he became involved with the Advisory committee on Industry (1994–96), Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Agriculture, Business Advisory Committee, House Committee and the Committee on Human Resource Development. On 25 March 1997, he became the President of the BJP's unit in Uttar Pradesh and in 1999 he became the Union Cabinet Minister for Surface Transport.

In 2000, he became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and in 2003 he became the Minister of Agriculture in the Vajpayee led NDA government. In 2013, he became BJP's National President after 2005.

After Narendra Modi's win in the 2014 General Elections, he was appointed the Union Minister of Home Affairs. In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, he defeated Poonam Shatrughan Sinha by 3,47,302 votes from Lucknow constituency. In 2014, he had defeated Congress candidate Rita Bahuguna Joshi by a margin of 27,2749 votes. He has become the Defence Minister in the new cabinet of Modi government.