Rajendra Singh | |
|---|---|
| 4thSarsanghchalak of theRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh | |
| In office 11 March 1994 – 10 March 2000 | |
| Preceded by | Madhukar Dattatraya Deoras |
| Succeeded by | K. S. Sudarshan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Rajendra Singh 29 January 1922 |
| Died | 14 July 2003(2003-07-14) (aged 81) Pune,Maharashtra, India |
| Education | BSc,MSc,PhD |
| Alma mater | University of Allahabad |
| Occupation | Phsysicist, political activist |
Rajendra Singh (29 January 1922 – 14 July 2003), was the fourthSarsanghchalak (Chief) of theRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), aright-wingHindutvaparamilitary organisation. He was chief of that organisation between 1994 and 2000. A physicist by profession, he was a professor and head of the Department of Physics at theUniversity of Allahabad but left the post and joined the RSS full-time in 1966.[1][2]
Rajendra Singh was born on 29 January 1922, in the village of Banail, located in theBulandshahr district,United Provinces. He was born into aTomar Rajput family, to parents Jwala Devi and Balbir Pratap Singh. His father was an engineer in theShahjahanpur.[3][4][5]
Rajendra Singh completed hismatriculation inUnnao.[6] He subsequently attended theModern School in New Delhi for a brief period before transferring toSt. Joseph's College in Nainital. He later pursued higher education at theUniversity of Allahabad, where he earnedBSc,MSc, andPhD degrees.[3]
Singh was acknowledged as an exceptionally brilliant student byC. V. Raman, the Indianphysicist andNobel Prize-winner, when he was his examiner in MSc. He also offered Singh a fellowship for advanced research in nuclear physics.[6][7]
He joinedAllahabad University after majoring in Physics to teachspectroscopy.[8] He taught at the university for several years, where later he was appointed head of the Department of Physics.[6] Singh was also considered an expert innuclear physics which was very rare those days in India.[9] He was a very popular teacher of the subject, using simple and clear concepts.[6]
Singh was active in theQuit India Movement of 1942 and it was during this time that he came in contact with the RSS.[6][9] The Sangh influenced his life thereafter. He resigned from his university post in 1966 and offered full-time services to the RSS as apracharak.[6][9]
Beginning inUttar Pradesh, Singh progressed to be theSarkaryavaha (General Secretary) in the 1980s.[6] On 11 March 1994,Madhukar Dattatraya Deoras, the thirdSarsanghchalak of the RSS, became the first head of the organisation to step down voluntarily, citing health reasons. He appointed Singh as his successor.[10][11] While in Uttar Pradesh, Singh worked withLal Bahadur Shastri,Chandra Shekhar andV. P. Singh.[11]
In 1998, Indian politics underwent a significant shift when theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP), closely affiliated with the RSS, emerged as the largest party in theIndian parliament. The BJP led theNational Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition government, withAtal Bihari Vajpayee serving asprime minister.[12] This marked the first instance of a central government in India being explicitly associated with the ideology ofHindutva.[13] However, the Vajpayee government's inability to implement key ideological objectives of the Sangh–primarily due to the constraints of coalition politics and Vajpayee’s moderate stance—led to dissatisfaction and criticism from the organisation.[12]
He gave up the post ofSarsanghchalak on account of his failing health in February 2000 and nominatedK. S. Sudarshan as his successor.[6]
Like many within the RSS who view theconstitution of India to be "anti-Hindu",[14] Singh once remarked "Official documents refer to the 'composite culture', but ours is certainly not a composite culture. Culture is not wearing of clothes or speaking languages. In a very fundamental sense, this country has a unique cultural oneness. No country, if it has to survive, can have compartments. All this shows that changes are needed in the Constitution. A constitution more suited to the ethos and genius of this country should be adopted in the future".[15]
In 1988, Singh praisedNathuram Godse, theassassin ofMahatma Gandhi, for his commitment to the concept ofAkhand Bharat, stating "His intentions were good but he used wrong methods".[16] However, in 1997, in a rally in which Vajpayee was present, Singh called Gandhi "among the sons ofBharat Mata", adding "He is held in reverence by the society though not decorated by the government withBharat Ratna", in an attempt to win support from Gandhi loyalists in the Indian electorate.[17][18]
Singh died on 14 July 2003 at Kaushik Ashram inPune,Maharashtra, where he had been residing following his retirement.[6] The following day, he was cremated at the Vaikunth Crematorium in Pune. His funeral was attended by prominent figures such as his successor,SarsanghchalakK. S. Sudarshan, alongside senior BJP leaders including then prime minister Vajpayee, thendeputy prime ministerL. K. Advani, and thenvice presidentBhairon Singh Shekhawat.[19]
मेरे पिताजी सन् 1921-22 के लगभग शाहजहाँपुर में इंजीनियर थे....(ह०) राजेन्द्र सिंह (सरसंघचालक, राष्ट्रीय स्वयंसेवक संघ) [My father was posted as Engineer at Shahjahanpur in near about 1921-22....(Sd) Rajendra Singh, Sarsanghchalak, R.S.S.]
| Preceded by | Sarsanghchalak of the RSS 1994 – 2000 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
