Vijay Kumar Singh

Focused on eliminating corruption

General (Retd.) Vijay Kumar Singh is an Indian politician and a Member of Parliament (MP) from Lok Sabha. He joined mainstream politics after serving as a four star general in the Indian Army. He was the 24th Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army from 2010 to 2012. After his retirement from Indian Army, he joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2014. He contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 and won from Ghaziabad constituency. One of the primary motivations for Vijay to join mainstream politics was to facilitate good governance and welfare of the state, which according to him can only be achieved when corruption is eliminated from the system.

Early Life and Education

Vijay Kumar Singh was born in Bapora village, Bhiwani district, Haryana on May 10, 1951 to Jagat Singh and Krishna Kumari. He studied at Birla Public School, Pilani, Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan and is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy (India). He married Bharti Singh on June 25, 1975.

Military Career

Vijay Kumar Singh has had an illustrious military career, having taken up various roles and responsibilities and executing various missions for the army. He started his military career in 1970 when he was commissioned into the 2nd Battalion of the Rajput Regiment (Kali Chindi). Over the years, he rose through the ranks and became the 24th Chief of Army Staff on 31 March 2010, the first commando to achieve that position. During the Indo-Pak War of 1971, Vijay was a young Lieutenant and served as an intelligence officer. He has won various military awards such as ParamVishishtSeva Medal, AtiVishistSeva Medal, YudhSeva Medal, etc.

Political Career

Vijay Kumar Singh had shown active support for the anti-corruption movement in India, even prior to his retirement from Indian army. He joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2014.

• May 2014:Elected to 16th Lok Sabha
• 27 May 2014 – 9 Nov 2014:Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Development of North Eastern Region; External Affairs; and Overseas Indian Affairs
• 9 Nov 2014 – 16 Feb 2016:Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation; Union Minister of State, Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs
• 16 Feb 2016 onwards:Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation; Union Minister of State, Ministry of External Affairs
• 5 July 2016 onwards:Union Minister of State, Ministry of External Affairs

Personal Pursuits

Vijay Kumar Singh likes to write and his book named ‘Courage and Conviction’ has received a good response from readers. In his free time, he likes listening to Indian classical instrumental music. In sports, he likes tennis, golf, badminton and horse riding.