Harivansh Singh: Former Newspaper Editor & New RS Deputy Chair
This is Harivansh Singh’s first term as a Rajya Sabha member.
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Former editor, Rajya Sabha MP and now the Upper House’s Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh was the NDA government’s “surprise” nomination to the post. On Thursday, 8 August, Harivansh was elected as the deputy chairman with 125 votes, defeating UPA candidate BK Hariprasad who won 105 votes.
Born on 30 June 1956 in Uttar Pradesh’s Balia, Harivansh pursued his post-graduate degree in Economics from Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and later gained a Diploma in Journalism from his alma mater.
Career As A Journalist
He began his career as a trainee journalist with The Times of India in 1977, and later moved on to Dharamyug in Mumbai and eventually joined the Anand Bazar Partika group.
However, the highlight of his career in media was in 1989, when he was appointed the Editor-in-Chief of Prabhat Khabar, the Hindi Daily published by the Usha Martin Group. The newspaper was reportedly single-handedly revived by the editor and became one of the most prominent newspapers in the states of Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal, where it was published.
Stint In the PMO
According to India TV News, Harivansh actively participated in the Jayaprakash Narayan movement in 1974 during his college days. And when Chandrashekar became the prime minister in 1990, he was roped in as the assistant information consultant in the PMO.
Foray Into Politics
After serving as the editor of the newspaper for almost 25 years, Harivansh was elected unopposed to the Upper House on Janata Dal (United)’s ticket in 2014. Interestingly, he was not even a primary member of the party at the time of election.