Ram Naik

Template:Short description Template:Use Indian English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox officeholder Ram Naik (born 17 April 1934) is a veteran Indian politician from the Bharatiya Janata Party<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> who served as the 19th Governor of Uttar Pradesh.<ref name=bio>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=gov/>

Political career

Ram Naik was a member of the 13th Lok Sabha and was Minister of Oil and Natural Gas in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee cabinet (1999–2004). He was instrumental in introducing Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme. He was the BJP candidate for elections to the 14th Lok Sabha representing Mumbai North, but lost to famous Bollywood actor Govinda, an INC candidate from Virar.

A Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh volunteer since childhood,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> he holds a law degree.<ref name=dial>Template:Cite web</ref> He started his political career with the Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1964 and was involved in organizing a group of rail commuters in Mumbai.<ref name=bio/> He represented Borivali in the state assembly in 1978 and was re-elected twice,<ref name=dial/> before becoming Minister of State for Railways in 1998, when he was influential in forming the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation.

In 2004 he published a statement in which he demanded apology from the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and chairwoman Sonia Gandhi for removal of quotes from statues dedicated to the Indian revolutionaries, such as Subhas Chandra Bose, Madan Lal Dhingra, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Bhagat Singh, and Bahadur Shah Zafar.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

Ram Naik announced in September 2013 that he will not contest the 2014 Lok Sabha Polls.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 14 July 2014 he was named as the Governor of Uttar Pradesh.<ref name=gov>Template:Cite web</ref>

Within a few months of his being appointed governor, he stated that "The Ram Temple should be built as soon as possible, this is what the people of this country want and their wishes should be fulfilled."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The theme was immediately backed up by Hindutva groups.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Subsequently, his Hindutva remarks seem to have been reined in<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> by Narendra Modi.

Personal life

He was born in Sangli district of Maharashtra state. He married Kunda Naik on 17 May 1960 and has two daughters.

Positions held

• 1969–1977 – Organising Secretary, Bharatiya Jan Sangh, Mumbai
• 1977–1978 – General Secretary, Janata Party, Mumbai
• 1978–1989 – Member, Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra (3 terms)
• 1979–1980 – President, Janata Party, Mumbai
• 1980–1986 – President, BJP, Mumbai
• 1986–1989 – Vice President, BJP, Maharashtra
• 1989 – Elected to 9th Lok Sabha
• 1991 – Elected to 10th Lok Sabha
• 1999 – Elected to 13th Lok Sabha
• 1999–2004 – Union Cabinet Minister, Petroleum and Natural Gas
• since 2004 – President, All India Disciplinary Committee of BJP
• 2014–2019 Governor of Uttar Pradesh

References

Template:S-start Template:S-par Template:S-bef Template:S-ttl Template:S-aft |- Template:S-off Template:S-bef Template:S-ttl Template:S-aft |- Template:S-bef Template:S-ttl Template:S-aft |- Template:S-end

External links

• Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website
• Official Website
• Official Website of Governor House Uttar Pradesh