[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 102 (Wednesday, July 17, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1077]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 IN HONOR OF RAJNATH SINGH, PRESIDENT OF INDIA'S BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY

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                       HON. ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA

                           of american samoa

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 17, 2013

  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to welcome Rajnath Singh 
to Washington, D.C. Mr. Singh is the current president of the Bharatiya 
Janata Party (BJP), the main opposition party in India.
  At age 24, Rajnath Singh was appointed District President of the Jana 
Sangh. In 1977, he was elected a Member of the Legislative Assembly 
from the Mirzapur constituency. In 1984, he became state president of 
the youth wing.
  In 1986, he was appointed national general secretary of the youth 
wing. In 1988, he rose to the position of National President in the BJP 
youth and was also elected into the Uttar Pradesh legislative council.
  In 1991, Mr. Singh became Education Minister in the first BJP 
government in the state of Uttar Pradesh. In April 1994, he was elected 
into the Rajya Sabha and he became involved with the Advisory committee 
on Industry, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Agriculture, 
Business Advisory Committee, House Committee and the Committee on Human 
Resource Development. Mr. Singh was twice elected as National President 
of BJP and his political accomplishments also include his service as 
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, his home state.
  Mr. Singh oversaw BJP victories in the states of Uttarakhand and 
Punjab, as well as municipal elections in Delhi, Chandigarh and across 
Maharashtra. In 2007, assembly elections in Gujarat added a new 
dimension to the string of successful electoral victories by the BJP.
  In 2008, the BJP formed its first ever Government in south India when 
it rose to power in Karnataka. In 2008, BJP also registered victories 
in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The most successful phase in the 
BJP's history was when it managed to win 5 Assembly elections in a row 
in Uttranchal, Punjab, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
  I am honored to welcome Mr. Singh to our nation's Capital. I thank 
him for his service to India and for his work in strengthening U.S.-
India relations. I also commend the BJP party for naming Chief Minister 
Narendra Modi as BJP's campaign committee chief.
  As former Chairman and current Ranking Member of the House Foreign 
Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, I have and will continue 
to fully support Chief Minister Modi in his work to lift millions out 
of poverty by making development a mass movement. Making development a 
mass movement cuts across the barriers of caste, community, region, 
religion, race, gender, and status, and guarantees that the benefits of 
development reach all of us.
  This extraordinary idea put forward by Chief Minister Modi has the 
potential to make the world a better place to live and, consequently, 
it is time for the U.S. to reverse its course and dialogue now with 
Chief Minister Modi, who may very well be India's next Prime Minister.
  Once more, I welcome the President of the BJP party to Washington, 
D.C., and I thank Mr. Sanjay Puri, founder and CEO of the Alliance for 
U.S.-India Business (AUSIB), for bringing us together.

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