NDA Candidate Elected New RS Deputy Chief Is The Journalist Who Reported Mountain Man Manjhi’s Story

Earlier today, National Democratic Alliance candidate and Janata Dal (United) Member of Parliament Harivansh Narayan Singh was elected chairperson of the Rajya Sabha despite it not having a majority on its own.

Interestingly, Singh - a parliamentarian since 2014 - is the journalist who reported the story of Mountain Man Dashrath Manjhi’s, Mint has reported.

Manjhi, who passed away in 2007, is known for carving out a 110 m long path through a hillock using only a hammer. After leaving home at an early age, he spent 22 years of his life carving out the path to shorten the distance between his village and the nearest town from 55 km to less than 15 km.

Addressing the house after Singh’s election to the deputy chief’s post, Prime Minister Narendra Modi heaped praise on him for his work as a journalist. Modi reminded the members that Singh, in his early days as a journalist, ran a newspaper column on how an ideal parliamentarian should be.

"He (Harivansh) has been blessed with the talent of writing. He was also a favourite of former PM Chandra Shekhar ji," said Modi. "He was a journalist, was associated with a newspaper. But not a whiff did he give to his newspaper (about the impending resignation of Chandra Shekhar in March 1991 ). He (Harivansh) maintained the dignity of the (PM's) office," the Prime Minister said.

From 1991 to 2016, Singh was the editor of Prabhat Khabar, a popular Hindi daily based in Ranchi. An accomplished writer, Singh has penned and edited at least 11 books.