Digamber Singh

Singh joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the late 1980s and served as the party's Bharatpur president between 1994 and 1997. Although, he is said to have been hesitant from stepping into politics, he was convinced by party leaders as Om Prakash Mathur and Lalit Kishore Chaturvedi.[11] He was elected to the 10th Rajasthan National Assembly in 1993 from Kumher at the age of 43.[2] He stood for Lok Sabha in the 1996 general election but lost to Natwar Singh.[11] He was re-elected to the Rajasthan National Assembly in 1998 and, as an opposition leader, was critical of the state congress government's negligence towards development projects in eastern Rajasthan.

In 2003, he won a seat in the assembly elections[12][11] from Kumher for the third consecutive time and was further appointed Minister of Health and Family Welfare in the Government of Rajasthan under Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.[4] During Singh's tenure, there were multiple government poverty relief schemes and programmes in Rajasthan, such as free testing for dengue to help control the disease.[13]

In 2007,[14] Singh introduced a programme to improve government health facilities and opened services centres at the panchayat level with the intention of making it more accessible to the poor.[15] In 2008, along with Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg,[16] Singh launched the Rajasthan-Norway joint health programme, which aimed to eradicate polio and modernise existing facilities and infrastructure.

In 2016, during Rajendra Singh Rathore's tenure as Health Minister, a major strike of resident doctors and staff was called-off after Singh brokered a deal between the government and the unions.[17]

In 2006, Dr. Digamber Singh, launched a state-wide mission to build stat-of-the-art medical research facilities in Rajasthan. Singh believed in strengthening the inventory capacity of the state medical staff by providing them research facilities and resources to undertake pioneering medical research.[18]

On 15 August 2006, Singh inaugurated the latest bypass surgery facilities, established by Bharat Vikas Parishad Hospital and Research Centre, in New Delhi, a subsidiary of the facilities in Kota, Rajasthan.[19]

Dr. Singh's tenure as Health Minister is also recalled for its crackdown on illegal and criminal medical practises in the state. Singh would monthly review data on criminal cases being reported in hospitals and government medical facilities in the state. These review meetings would often include district-level officers as Collectors and SPs, who were immediately instructed to take action.[20]

Dr. Digamber Singh's popularity among the party rank and files and among the people was surging rapidly in the years 2003 onwards. In 2007, the much contentious, Gurjar agitation in Rajasthan took place. The agitation almost paralysed government machinery in Eastern Rajasthan and propelled Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje to take drastic measures to ensure law and order prevailed. Amidst heightened tension, Chief Minister Raje assigned the responsibility to mediate with agitators to her cabinet colleague, Dr. Digamber Singh.[21]After various rounds of dialogues between the government and the agitators, over a period of nine months, the agitation was finally called off in September 2008. Following the development News 18 journalist Pratap Rao called Singh the "troubleshooting Minister" of the Government.[22]

Singh was appointed Rajasthan's Cabinet Minister for Industries in 2009.[2][4][23] Under his leadership, numerous multi-dynamic urban and residential projects were implemented within the state[24] and the FDI level rose by 9% as multiple special economic zones were introduced.[25][23][26]

Singh addressing a press-conference after the Indo-Arab Investment Summit in New Delhi - April 2008.

At Singh's behest, the Indian government opened the Indian Institutes of Technology campuses in Rajasthan.[27][28] The Rajasthan Government, under Singh, initiated ‘FIESTA’ events at engineering institutions in a bid to engage rural talent and open collaborative opportunities abroad.[29]

Prior to the 2008 Rajasthan Assembly elections, delimitation of electoral constituencies took place and Bharatpur's parliamentary seat was reserved, while Singh's Kumher constituency was merged with Deeg to form the Deeg-Kumher Assembly constituency.[30][6] The BJP chose Singh as its candidate from Deeg-Kumher and the party's incumbent Member of Parliament, Vishvendra Singh, shifting loyalties, represented the Indian National Congress.[5] Digamber Singh won the seat by a margin of 3514 votes.[12][3]The 2008 election was the first instance, since independence, where the Royal Family of Bharatpur had to face a defeat. Dr. Singh's victory ensured the continuity of his unchallenged stronghold over the Jats of India. In a press-conference, after his victory against Bharatpur's royal scion, Singh said, “After defeating Vishvendra, I have put an end to two myths, one that Vishvendra is undefeatable, and the other that 13 (13 Civil Lines; his government residence) is an unlucky number”[7]Singh would serve as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) after the BJP was voted out of power.[31][32]

In 2009, a year after the state election, the state Bharatiya Janata Party was split into two camps, one that of former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, and the other of the party organisation or the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Singh backed Raje, unconditionally, and was announced as the nominee for the State President of the party from her camp.[33]However, a few days later, Singh backed down and instead garnered support for Raje[34] from more than 50 legislators, leading to central leadership under Rajnath Singh, deterring from its decision to deny Raje's appointment.[9][10][16][35][17][13][14]

Singh addressing a public rally in Laxmangarh, Rajasthan. July 3, 2013

The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, campaigns in support of Dr. Digamber Singh in Bharatpur, Rajasthan.

In September 2014, he unsuccessfully contested the bypoll from Surajgarh in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan.[11][4][32][36]Despite the storming of government heavyweights and Singh's relentless campaign, Surajgarh, meant to resurrect the fallen Singh, instead, pushed him down a cliff. The once all powerful Minister, had now lost two consecutive elections in a span of less than a year. Both being amidst an untameable frenzy for the Bharatiya Janata Party. A mere margin of 3,100 votes, from Surajgarh, had kept Singh away from the peak of his career. His consecutive defeats also chastened the newly formed government.[37]

In 2015, Dr. Digamber Singh declined Chief Minister Raje's request to be the BJP's nominee to the Rajya Sabha. Later that year, in a bid to bolster his influence the state Cabinet, Singh was appointed the Chairman of the Twenty Point Programme, a highly powerful government wing,[8][38][39][32] and was accorded a Cabinet Minister status, giving him responsibility of 20 government ministries. Singh's appointment, despite two electoral jolts within a year, made clear his vitality to the government and the party. The opposition raised Singh's appointment as an evidence of the lack of confidence of the government on its elected representatives. The opposition further termed Singh's appointment as unconstitutional, as it surpassed the authority of elected members, serving as Cabinet Minister. The move was, however, strongly welcomed by the Jat Community across the nation. Intellectuals and policy makers too expressed confidence in Singh's appointment, knowing his acumen and abilities, plus the two decade long experience in government functioning.[8][4]

Singh inspecting a government exhibition during a foundation laying ceremony of developmental projects in Bharatpur, Rajasthan.

During his official visit to Sikar, in November 2016, Singh approved the establishment of a medical college in the district, by the year 2018. The demand for a medical college had long been a priority issue for the region.[40]

On 9 August 2016, a gazette notification, by the Government of Rajasthan, proclaimed a council, responsible for the monitoring of major schemes, initiatives and projects under the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Ministry of Law, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.[8]

Dr. Digamber Singh's death, 14 months prior to the 2018 Rajasthan Legislative Assembly election, came as a big blow to the Bharatiya Janata Party. Singh, a mass leader, had a sway among the Jat Community and voters in Eastern Rajasthan, the void of which was evident in the assembly election the following year. In the 2018 election, the party won only 1 of the 19 assembly seats in Eastern Rajasthan, which was a major reason for its defeat.[45]

Apart from his role and provisions as an elected representative and a powerful Minister, Singh was also well known for his take on social concerns. The Dr. Digamber Singh Pro Kabaddi Tournament, inaugurated in 2017, to proffer rural sports potential and provide rural athletes with international opportunities and financial assistance is one such example. The tournament's teams comprise of the districts of the state of Rajasthan.[46]