In Assam, another leader of long political standing, Banwarilal Purohit has been selected while in Manipur well-known Najma Heptulla, having long years of Parliamentary experience, has been appointed.

Who are these leaders and what is their background? V P Singh has completed his Rajya Sabha term in July, this year, but denied re-nomination to the Upper House. This was considered unfair to him as normally a Rajya Sabha member gets the second term. Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje, for whatsoever reason, opposed second term for V P Singh. He has, however, been compensated with his appointment as governor of Punjab. He belongs to the royal family of Badnore, near Bhilwara, in Rajasthan. He is said to be a protégé of the late Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, a tall BJP leader who was a three-term Chief Minister of Rajasthan.

V P Singh had long innings as an MLA — from 1977 to 1999 — without a break when Shekhawat was the chief minister. He was cabinet minister from 1999 to 2004 during the first term of Vasundhara Raje as CM. He was an MP in the 13th Lok Sabha. He holds expertise in wildlife as he had led a Special Task Force to rehabilitate tigers in Sariska wildlife sanctuary.

Both Purohit and Najma were members of the Congress for long years but fell out with the then leadership and joined the BJP. They rose steadily in their new party. Seventy six-year-old, Purohit is a veteran politician from the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. He was two term member of Lok Sabha, representing first the Congress and then the BJP.

As far back 2007, he landed in controversy, when he claimed that he had arranged an-hour long meeting between the then RSS chief Balasaheb Deoras and the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1989. It was alleged that Rajiv Gandhi had entered into a secret pact in exchange for the RSS support to the Congress in the 1989 elections. Congress leaders vehemently denied that any such meeting took place and a pact signed; the matter ended there. However, this was the beginning of trouble for him in the Congress which led to his resignation from the party.

In politics, Purohit was elected to Maharashtra assembly on Congress ticket in 1989 and 1980, after which party sent him to Lok Sabha twice—1984 and 1989. In 1991, when he was still a Congress MP, he reportedly took part in Kar Seva in Ayodhdya, leading to his expulsion from the party. The same year, he fought unsuccessfully for the Lok Sabha on BJP ticket. He won his next Lok Sabha election in 1996, but lost again in 2009.

Prior to his appointment as governor, Purohit was managing editor of the Hitavada, published from Nagpur, having its editions in Raipur, Jabalpur and Bhopal. Founded by Gopal Krishna Gokhale in 1911, the daily was run by Servants’ of India Society.

Najma Heptulla, during her political career had occupied several positions. She has been a member of both the Congress and the BJP. After being in the Congress for more than three decades, she joined the BJP in 2004. As per reports, she left the Congress because of her sour relationship with Congress President Sonia Gandhi. It was believed that she was associated with BJP leader Atal Behari Vajpayee and hence joined the BJP.

As a Congress member, she held many positions. She was the party’s general secretary and spokesperson in 1986. She was elected as Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha in 1985 and held that position for 16 years; she was elected to the upper house five times between 1985 and 2012.

Rising rapidly after joining the BJP, Najma, contested for the post of vice-president against UPA’s Hamid Ansari. Though she lost the elections, her skills and qualities came to be recognized by all. During Nitin Gadkari’s tenure as BJP President in 2010, Najma was appointed as one of the Vice-Presidents of the party. She lost her position after Rajnath Singh took over as the party President.

The time when NDA was in power, Najma gained the position of head of the Indian Council of Cultural Affairs and headed many delegations abroad. BJP never lost its trust in her and hence, she was appointed as the Minister of Minority Affairs in the Narendra Modi government.

Born in Bhopal on April 13, 1940, Najma obtained a Masters Degree in Zooloy and a Ph.D in Cardiac Anatomy. In 1966, she married Akbar Ali Heptulla and the couple is blessed with three daughters. Her husband passed away in 2007.

Najma is a grand-niece of Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, front ranking leader in India’s independence movement. (IPA Service)