Hundreds of people, ranging from the common men, women, top notch politicians to intellectuals, rushed to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh’s official residence in Raipur on Saturday to extend hearty wishes to him on his 64th birthday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi too greeted to him through twitter. Raman Singh unveiled development schemes and projects worth `500 crore on Saturday to mark his birthday.
The enthusiastic supporters and well-wishers of Raman Singh crowded his Civil line area residence here right from early hours and security officials had a difficult day to handle the passionate visitors who were jostling each other to shake hands with doctor-turned politician Singh.
Having first assumed the chief ministerial office on December 7, 2003, Raman Singh has recently become the longest serving Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Chief Minister in the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday too greeted Raman Singh on his 64th birthday. “Birthday wishes to Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh. May Almighty bless him with a long and healthy life,” Modi poster on Twitter.
Raman Singh is classified as a ‘thorough gentleman and sober politician’ who has hardly any hardcore critics. Analysts tag him as a workaholic person who always strives to bring in prosperity and alleviate poverty in the mineral-rich State.
Singh, who launched his political career in 1983 as a councillor in his home town Kawardha, has never looked back since December 2003 when he led the Bharatiya Janata Party to power.
In 2003, he delivered a stunning defeat to the Ajit Jogi-led Congress Government in the first ever election in the State which was carved out of Madhya Pradesh on November 1, 2000.
Admirers say Raman Singh is highly accessible politician who has ruled the hearts and minds of many in Chhattisgarh, a State of 2.55 crore people with a fifth of India’s estimated coal and iron ore reserves but steeped in poverty.
Many had thought in 2003 that Raman Singh lacked popular base and had become Chief Minister only due to luck but he proved pundits wrong with successive election victories although the BJP in Chhattisgarh is dominated by arrogant Ministers and legislators.
One of his biggest successes was unveiling a trend setting Food Security Act that ensured basic food to 60 per cent of State’s population. It also helped the BJP to expand its footprint to rural hinterland and keep the Congress away from power.