It’s coincidental that Rajnath Singh and I happen to share the same date of birth. Though of course he happens to be decades older than I am. I have known of Rajnath Singh for close to two decades now, and I must point out at the outset itself that I have been a huge admirer of his.
His most admirable quality that I have observed is that he never ever gets flustered.
In several interviews over the years, I have often tried to provoke him into revealing a hidden side to himself. But invariably I have failed. Tough-as-nails journos like me haven’t ever managed to provoke him into getting into a turf war of sorts with his colleagues.
An example straightaway comes to mind. In 2009, in the immediate aftermath of the BJP’s defeat in the General Elections, party leader Arun Shourie, came out all guns blazing against the leadership. Cut them all to down to size, bombard the headquarters, screamed Shourie. Rajnath, then party president, was dubbed as “Alice in Blunderland” who was only busy listening to his astrologer’s pearls of wisdom.
It was the sharpest and the most brutal attack ever seen during Rajnath’s entire political career. Yet, he never ever uttered a word against either Shourie or his views. It’s this ability of his to forever remain politically correct which has ensured that even though he could not strengthen the BJP cadres in his own home state of UP, he still is the number two of this government. Lest we forget, even after the numbing defeat of 2009, it was Rajnath who again became party president when Nitin Gadkari had to make way after his name came up in the alleged Purti group scam.
The Rajnath Singh I know is the amongst the best hosts you will see in Delhi. He may have moved into a bigger house on Akbar Road in Lutyens’ Delhi, but his home still has the same earthy, warm vibes that were on witness during his days at Ashoka Road. The sweets and lemon tea remains the same too.
I remember once asking him how he remembers the names of so many people. Considering that he met with a minimum of a thousand people a day either as party president or as a Union Minister during the Vajpayee government. Pat came the response,
I am a people’s man. My job is to be with people. How can I forget the names of individuals who have made me what I am today?
– Rajnath Singh, Union Home Minister
Now that he is the Home Minister, it’s but natural for him to change a bit. Despite that, he has managed to build a very good team of loyal soldiers around him. All of whom swear by his loyalty and personal authority.
Someone asked me today to spot the most important trait common to Rajnath Singh, Bhupendra Chaubey and Sunny Gavaskar, all born on July 10th.
I said, well, all of us are perhaps defensive batsmen.
But I was corrected. I was told that all the three are long-term workhorses, if not derby racehorses. Perhaps that description sums up the entire career of Rajnath Singh.
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