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From kids to the elderly, everyone had his name was on their lips when he took oath as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, a politically significant state in Northern India. The reason for his fame was his anonymity in the party until he stepped on the prestigious post.
Born on 26th October 1923
During 1942 when the Quit India movement was at its peak, he left his home with dreams of participating in the freedom struggle, to breathe free India. Ram Prakash dropped out of high school and took part in the Jail Bharo Andolan. Eventually, years passed and he completed his Masters in Mathematics from Allahabad University. Over the years his political interests were apparent with his membership of Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Dal (RSS) followed by the new political party in opposition of the ruling party Congress, Bhartiya Jan Sangh.
Jail yatra was not a new thing for Gupta ji, when the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) was passed and applied during the emergency in the tenure of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi he faced it again. Several ministers and stalwarts of opposition were sacked in the jail, so was Ram Prakash Gupta. In his stay there he met a young member of the party in his neighbouring cell, as he extended his hand to greet him Ram Prakash ji insisted on reading his palm and then predicted he shall be the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh someday. Interestingly, the young party member was none other than Rajnath Singh who became the CM right after Ram Prakash ji’s exit!
Ram Prakash Gupta began his tenure as the Chief Minister of the gigantic state of Uttar Pradesh with an astounding 91 ministers in his cabinet. Gupta neither aspired nor dreamt he’ll be holding such a significant post of the state. His appointment has another interesting story behind it. Right after the tenure of Lt. Kalyan Singh ji as the CM of state, the party in the succeeding elections witnessed a drop in the votes. The drop was considered as a reflection of Kalyan’s leadership, hence he had to be sacked according to the state stalwarts of the Bhartiya Janta Party. L K Advani and A B Vajpayee were in a state of great confusion, who shall now be declared as the CM. Instantly Advani exclaimed, “How about Gupta?”
Being the senior-most leader with an experience of ministership under Chaudhary Charan Singh as CM, he was the best bet the party could think of. A man who had no qualms against anyone in the party and had worked in the departments of Education, Transport and tourism, technical education, Harijan and social welfare and Cultural work and research. Thus, he was considered a perfect fit for the situation.
Ram Prakash Gupta’s tenure wasn’t long and lasted for just a year from 12th November 1999 to 28th October 2000. But this short tenure wasn’t short of controversies, statements and jibes from the opposition. The opposition had openly claimed of him being oblivious of statecraft required to chair the post of CM.
In a rather comic incident, few ministers had reported about a corrupt officer in administration for favouring the opposition. To hold an enquiry on him Gupta ordered an officer to meet him and upon his visit, the officer had an embarrassing moment when he realised the name was none other than his own. It is still not known if it was an incident of absent-mindedness or a deliberate attempt to warn the officer on duty.
Ram Prakash Gupta was later appointed as the Governor of Madhya Pradesh on 7th May 2003. After his demise on 1st May 2004, his entire career of leadership and contributions to the BJP for its win in 1991 was forgotten and was hardly remembered by the party. Gupta Ji remains to be the forgotten CM of UP.
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