CM Rekha Gupta Pays Tribute to Ashok Singhal on Birth Centenary
Synopsis
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta paid tribute to VHP leader Ashok Singhal on his birth centenary — 27 September 1926 — sharing PM Modi's words crediting Singhal's decades of work on the Ram Janmabhoomi movement with making the Ayodhya temple a reality.
Key Takeaways
Ashok Singhal was born on 27 September 1926 in Agra ; 2026 marks his birth centenary.
Delhi CM Rekha Gupta shared PM Modi's tribute from Mann Ki Baat honouring Singhal on this centenary.
Singhal was a long-time VHP leader and central organiser of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement ; he died in 2015 .
PM Modi credited Singhal's 'direction and energy' for the eventual construction of the Ram Mandir, consecrated in Ayodhya on 22 January 2024 .
BJP commemorations of Ram Janmabhoomi movement figures have intensified since the 2024 temple inauguration .
A hundred years after his birth in Agra, Ashok Singhal — the man who spent decades organising one of independent India's most consequential religious campaigns — is being remembered by voices at the highest levels of government. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Sunday, 27 September 2026, shared a tribute marking the birth centenary of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader, quoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's words from Mann Ki Baat.
Quoting the Prime Minister, CM Gupta shared: 'Shraddhey swargiya Ashok Singhal ji ka janm 27 September 1926 ko aaj ke hi din Agra mein hua tha' — 'The revered late Ashok Singhal ji was born on this very day, 27 September 1926, in Agra. On his birth centenary, I pay my tributes. He lived the life of an ascetic while remaining part of society. The direction and energy he gave to the Ram Janmabhoomi movement is the reason we are today witnessing the magnificent temple in Ayodhya with our own eyes.'The man who shaped the Ram Janmabhoomi campaign
Ashok Singhal, who passed away in 2015, served for decades as the driving force behind the VHP's push to build a temple at what the organisation held to be Lord Ram's birthplace in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. His organisational work spanned mass mobilisations, kar sevak rallies, and sustained legal and political pressure over more than three decades. Supporters credited him with transforming the Ram Janmabhoomi demand from a regional sentiment into a national movement.Agra to Ayodhya: from Singhal's birth to the temple's consecration
The arc Modi describes is stark: a movement Singhal helped launch did not see its conclusion in his lifetime. The Supreme Court delivered its landmark verdict on the disputed site in 2019, and the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya was consecrated on 22 January 2024 — nearly nine years after Singhal's death. The PM's framing — that the energy Singhal gave the movement is 'why we see the grand temple today' — directly threads his legacy into the completed temple, a rhetorical link the BJP has consistently reinforced since the inauguration.Birth-centenary tributes and BJP's commemorative pattern
Since the Ayodhya temple opened in early 2024, BJP leaders at state and national levels have intensified commemorations of figures associated with the Ram Janmabhoomi campaign. Singhal's birth centenary in 2026 has become a focal point for such tributes, with CM Gupta's post part of a broader effort to publicly link the present moment — a standing temple in Ayodhya — to the movement's historical architects. State-level observances across Uttar Pradesh and Delhi are expected to continue through the centenary year.Point of View
CM Rekha Gupta is participating in a deliberate BJP effort to stitch the completed Ayodhya temple into a continuous historical narrative — one that elevates VHP figures as founding architects of a visible national achievement. The tribute signals that the party intends the temple's consecration to be not a closing chapter but a recurring political reference point, especially as state elections and the centenary year calendar create fresh occasions for such remembrance. For a Delhi CM navigating a crowded ideological space, invoking a PM quote on a revered movement figure is also low-risk, high-resonance political communication. The broader pattern suggests these commemorations will grow more elaborate, not fewer, as 2026 unfolds.
NationPress
27 Sept 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Ashok Singhal?
Ashok Singhal was a long-time leader of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and one of the principal organisers of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, which campaigned for the construction of a temple at Lord Ram's birthplace in Ayodhya. He died in 2015 .
Why is Ashok Singhal's birth centenary being observed in 2026?
Singhal was born on 27 September 1926 , making 2026 the 100th anniversary of his birth. BJP and VHP-affiliated leaders have used the occasion to pay tribute and link his legacy to the consecration of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir in 2024.
What did PM Modi say about Ashok Singhal in Mann Ki Baat?
PM Modi stated that Singhal 'lived the life of an ascetic while remaining part of society' and credited the 'direction and energy' Singhal gave to the Ram Janmabhoomi movement as the reason 'we are today witnessing the magnificent temple in Ayodhya.'
When was the Ayodhya Ram Mandir inaugurated?
The Ram Mandir in Ayodhya was consecrated on 22 January 2024 , following the Supreme Court's 2019 verdict on the long-disputed site.
Why did Delhi CM Rekha Gupta post about Ashok Singhal?
Delhi CM Rekha Gupta shared PM Modi's tribute to mark Ashok Singhal's birth centenary on 27 September 2026 , as part of a broader BJP pattern of commemorating figures associated with the Ram Janmabhoomi movement since the Ayodhya temple's completion.
