 "Narendra Singh Tomar (Photo: Twitter)")
Madhya Pradesh strongman Narendra Singh Tomar’s new assignment as Union rural development minister won’t be his first brush with the department, having held the same portfolio in Madhya Pradesh during Uma Bharti’s stint as chief minister in 2003.
At the time, Tomar was credited with starting several new programmes for the rural sector in the state and his latest assignment in the union cabinet is being seen as a natural progression of that.
Sources said Tomar’s on-the-ground experience in handling matters related to panchayats and their working and his deep understanding of the rural sector might have clinched the case in his favour over Congress-turned-BJP leader Birender Singh, who held the ministry until now.
Before being given the rural development ministry, Tomar was labour and steel and mines minister in the Modi cabinet.
A number of Modi’s marquee projects, such as the Gramuday Se Bharat Uday, Swachh Bharat, Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojana, Rural Housing Scheme, and Deendayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushal Yojana are all under the rural development ministry. The ministry has got one of the biggest jumps in allocation in the FY2016-17 budget and is critical for Modi's rural transformation programme.
A Gwalior native, Tomar cut his teeth in politics during his student days as a student union leader in the Jiwaji Rao University. After that he became an active labour union leader and was instrumental in organising the workers in JC Mills, forcing the management to back down. He was noticed, and rose within the state BJP ranks due to his active involvement in labour unions. A Shivraj Singh Chouhan loyalist, Tomar was BJP state president during the CM’s second stint.
He was also General Secretary of the party, handling the charge of politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh. A quiet worker, Tomar’s associates say he believes more in doing his job than in publicity.
