# Ajay Singh Yadav

Captain Ajay Singh Yadav is a former Indian National Congress politician from the state of Haryana, India. In 2008 he was appointed as Minister of Power, Forests and Environment and was formerly minister of Irrigation, Revenue and Elections for that state. In February 2022, he was appointed the National Chairman of Other Backward Class department of the All India Congress Committee.

## Early life

Ajay Singh Yadav was born on 2 November 1958 in a Yadav family at Saharanwas village, Rewari district, Haryana. His father was Rao Abhey Singh, who had also been a Member of the Legislative Assembly in Haryana. He was educated at various places including Jaipur, Chandigarh, New Delhi and Rewari, graduating with the degrees of BSc and LL.B. Singh became second lieutenant in the Indian Army on 7 June 1980, and resigned seven years later on 26 June 1987 as captain. After his military service, Singh pursued a political career in Rewari district.

## Electoral performance

1991 Haryana Legislative Assembly election : Rewari :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | INC | Ajay Singh Yadav | 33,922 | 52.78% | 29.36 |
| | HVP | Rajinder Singh | 8,098 | 12.60% | New |
| | BJP | Shiv Rattan Singh | 7,463 | 11.61% | New |
| | Independent | Inderpal | 5,092 | 7.92% | New |
| | Sarvajati Janta Panchayat | Mittar Sain | 4,198 | 6.53% | New |
| | LKD | Jaggan Singh | 1,758 | 2.74% | 52.64 |
| | Independent | Jai Singh | 931 | 1.45% | New |
| | Jawan Kisan Mazdur Party | Chiranji S/O Mam Chand | 655 | 1.02% | New |
| | Doordarshi Party | Lal Chand | 432 | 0.67% | New |
| | Independent | Joginder | 367 | 0.57% | New |
| Margin of victory | Margin of victory | Margin of victory | 25,824 | 40.18% | 8.23 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 64,269 | 59.98% | 12.01 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 1,11,081 | | 11.06 |
| | INC gain from LKD | INC gain from LKD | Swing | 2.59 | |
1996 Haryana Legislative Assembly election : Rewari :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | INC | Ajay Singh Yadav | 22,099 | 26.70% | 26.08 |
| | Independent | Randhir Singh Kapriwas | 20,332 | 24.56% | New |
| | BJP | Sharda | 18,566 | 22.43% | 10.82 |
| | BSP | Ishwar Yadav | 7,362 | 8.89% | New |
| | SP | Master Brinder Singh | 5,943 | 7.18% | New |
| | Samata Party | Sunil Rao | 2,705 | 3.27% | New |
| | Independent | Shri Ram Sambharya | 2,004 | 2.42% | New |
| | AIIC(T) | K . R. Khurana | 1,262 | 1.52% | New |
| | Akhil Bharatiya Jan Sangh | Jagdish Sharma | 472 | 0.57% | New |
| Margin of victory | Margin of victory | Margin of victory | 1,767 | 2.13% | 38.05 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 82,779 | 65.55% | 4.69 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 1,32,344 | | 19.14 |
| | INC hold | INC hold | Swing | 26.08 | |
2000 Haryana Legislative Assembly election : Rewari :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | INC | Ajay Singh Yadav | 26,036 | 28.96% | 2.27 |
| | Independent | Vijay Somani | 21,112 | 23.49% | New |
| | Independent | Randhir Singh Kapriwas | 20,016 | 22.27% | New |
| | Independent | Rajender Singh | 10,167 | 11.31% | New |
| | BJP | Shiv Rattan Singh | 9,006 | 10.02% | 12.41 |
| | Independent | Hirdey Ram | 1,266 | 1.41% | New |
| | Independent | Ashok Gulati | 624 | 0.69% | New |
| | HVP | Sheo Lal | 542 | 0.60% | New |
| | Independent | Radhey Shyam | 536 | 0.60% | New |
| Margin of victory | Margin of victory | Margin of victory | 4,924 | 5.48% | 3.34 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 89,890 | 66.90% | 4.33 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 1,34,414 | | 1.56 |
| | INC hold | INC hold | Swing | 2.27 | |
2005 Haryana Legislative Assembly election : Rewari :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | INC | Ajay Singh Yadav | 48,924 | 44.72% | 15.75 |
| | BJP | Randhir Singh Kapriwas | 36,145 | 33.04% | 23.02 |
| | Independent | Vijay Somany | 12,140 | 11.10% | New |
| | INLD | Thekedar Rajinder Singh | 5,840 | 5.34% | New |
| | BSP | Manjeet | 3,003 | 2.74% | New |
| | Independent | Sudesh | 969 | 0.89% | New |
| | Independent | Rohtash | 574 | 0.52% | New |
| Margin of victory | Margin of victory | Margin of victory | 12,779 | 11.68% | 6.20 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,09,404 | 73.77% | 6.89 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 1,48,312 | | 10.34 |
| | INC hold | INC hold | Swing | 15.75 | |
2014 Haryana Legislative Assembly election : Rewari :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | BJP | Randhir Singh Kapriwas | 81,103 | 52.92% | 32.66 |
| | INLD | Satish Yadav | 35,637 | 23.25% | 20.57 |
| | INC | Ajay Singh Yadav | 31,471 | 20.53% | 19.78 |
| | BSP | Pritam Kumar | 1,312 | 0.86% | 4.47 |
| | HJC(BL) | Raghu Yadav | 935 | 0.61% | 0.36 |
| | Independent | Vijay Somany | 784 | 0.51% | New |
| Margin of victory | Margin of victory | Margin of victory | 45,466 | 29.66% | 18.63 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,53,268 | 75.18% | 2.49 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 2,03,862 | | 23.04 |
| | BJP gain from INC | BJP gain from INC | Swing | 12.60 | |
2009 Haryana Legislative Assembly election : Rewari :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | INC | Ajay Singh Yadav | 48,557 | 40.31% | 4.40 |
| | Independent | Satish S/O Roshan Lal | 35,269 | 29.28% | New |
| | BJP | Randhir Singh Kapriwas | 24,396 | 20.25% | 12.78 |
| | BSP | Vijay Somany | 6,418 | 5.33% | 2.58 |
| | INLD | Anil Kumar | 3,225 | 2.68% | 2.66 |
| | HJC(BL) | Rajinder Singh | 1,164 | 0.97% | New |
| Margin of victory | Margin of victory | Margin of victory | 13,288 | 11.03% | 0.65 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,20,446 | 72.69% | 1.07 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 1,65,691 | | 11.72 |
| | INC hold | INC hold | Swing | 4.40 | |

## Political career

Singh was a Member of the Legislative Assembly in Haryana for six consecutive terms, totalling 25 years.
He held the following offices:
* Member, A.I.C.C.
* Member, P.C.C.
* Deputy Leader Congress Legislative Party
* President D.C.C., Rewari
* Secretary, Haryana State Kisan Congress
* Minister for Jails, for Printing & Stationery, for Social Welfare and Women as well as for Child Development
* Officiated C.L.P. Leader in Haryana
* Deputy Leader C.L.P. in Haryana
* AICC State Observer for Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh during Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
* Finance, Irrigation & PWD Minister.
* National Chairman, A.I.C.C. O.B.C. (present)
He has been a Member of Legislative Assembly. On 29 July 2014, Singh resigned from his post and submitted his resignation letter to Bhupinder Singh Hooda. However, Singh has not resigned from the party.

## Legal issues

Yadav and his sister, Justice Nirmal Yadav of Punjab and Haryana High Court, were accused of influencing a land deal in Solan, Himachal Pradesh in 2008 by putting undue pressure on Panchkula Tehsildar Satish Kumar to issue residence certificate without proper documents. Official inquiries supported claims of impropriety, which Yadav denied.