Rajnath Singh's emergence as BJP's chief troubleshooter

In June 2019 Union Minister Rajnath Singh, whose portfolio was changed from Home Ministry to Defence Ministry in Modi 2.0 government, was reportedly sullen when his name was dropped from four key Cabinet Committees, a decision which was reversed by the evening with an amended list of new committees in next one year.

A year later, Singh has emerged as the chief troubleshooter—all the more during this Monsoon Session during which he ably anchored the floor strategy of Parliament to Opposition to backing the government over the contentious farm laws.

The protests over farm laws from Parliament to the streets has seen the emergence of senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh in the forefront with the Modi government pitching him to counter the ‘anti-farmer’ campaign against the government launched by the Opposition ever since the Bills were passed by Parliament on September 20.

Earlier too when the government sought to reach out to Opposition parties on September 19 to muster support for the contentious Bills, Singh was roped in along with three more to speak to Opposition parties like NCP, Shiv Sena and BJD besides ally AIADMK.

Singh also called Opposition leaders like Derek O’ Brien, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury to reason with them as to why Question Hour should be done away with this in this session as scheduling it in the middle of Covid-19 pandemic would be difficult. One of the reasons for the responsibility falling back on Singh’s soldiers was also because Amit Shah was hospitalised for Covid-19 treatment during the session days.

Rajya Sabha MP from BSP in Uttar Pradesh Danish Ali says “Rajnath Singh hails from a farmer family. He is also considered a moderate face. On the Farm Bill issue, the government, not only ignored consensus but even did not allow a proper discussion and that has deepened doubts of farmers regarding the initiative. Singh with a rural background fits in as the face of the government to counter this impression.”

After the passage of Bills amid acrimonious scenes in Rajya Sabha, Singh addressed a hurriedly called press conference with five other Union Ministers, asserting “I am the son of a farmer” as he sought to assure the farmers that Modi government will do nothing which is detrimental to the farmers’ interest.

Days before Rahul Gandhi began his tractor yatra against farm lawa, Singh, on October 1, announced that not only the MSP (minimum support price) will stay, but it will also be continuously increased in coming years.

Chowdhary Pushpendra Singh, President of Kisan Sangh, who along with farmer leaders including six Padma Shri awardee farmers met Rajanth Singh and Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar at the Defence Minister’s official residence on October 6 to discuss their views regarding the laws, said, “Rajnath Singh had been Agriculture Minister in past. He has the image of a farmer leader.”

Not only the ‘son of a farmer’ image but Singh’s persuasive skills have also won him many friends within the Opposition itself.

After the demise of Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley in August 2019, BJP’s communication with other parties took a hit. Hence, Singh, with a wide experience in government affairs and well versed with politics of Hindi belt has become the natural choice to deal with leaders in the Opposition spectrum, many of whom are junior to Singh in political life.

Political analyst Rasheed Kidwai says, “Singh does not have a hawkish leader’s image which some others have. So Rajnath Singh’s sobriety in public dealing comes handy to the government when it has to deal with contentious scenarios. “And mind it after the demise of Jaswant Singh and many old veterans in the shadow, Rajnath Singh is the last veterans from the Atal Bihari Vajpayee era.”