Harivansh Narayan Singh: journalist turned three-time Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha

Overview

Harivansh Narayan Singh (born 30 June 1956) is an Indian journalist-turned-parliamentarian who has served as Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India’s Parliament, since August 2018 — winning the post three times, by contested ballot in 2018, by voice vote in 2020, and unopposed in 2026 as the first nominated member ever to hold it (ThePrint; The Tribune).

Before Parliament, he spent more than 25 years at the Hindi daily Prabhat Khabar, rising to editor-in-chief, after stints at the weeklies Dharmyug and Ravivar and a brief period as a bank official (ThePrint; The Indian Express). He entered the Rajya Sabha from Bihar in 2014, was re-elected in 2020, and after that term ended in April 2026 was nominated to the House by President Droupadi Murmu (ABP Live).

This profile is about the parliamentarian and former editor — not about any other person named Harivansh Singh.

Journalist first: from Ballia to Prabhat Khabar

Harivansh was born in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, on 30 June 1956, and completed a post-graduation in economics and a diploma in journalism at Banaras Hindu University (ThePrint). While in college he was influenced by Jayaprakash Narayan and took part in the socialist movement Narayan led in 1974; he belongs to Sitab Diara village in Saran, which was also Jayaprakash Narayan’s paternal village, and counts the former prime minister Chandra Shekhar — another Ballia figure — among his formative influences (ThePrint; The Indian Express). He married Asha Singh on 23 April 1978 and has a son and a daughter (ThePrint).

His journalism career ran from the pictorial weekly Dharmyug, where he worked as a sub-editor from 1977 to 1981, through a brief stint as a bank official and then Ravivar, the Amrita Bazar Patrika group’s weekly, where he was assistant editor from 1985 to 1989 (ThePrint; The Indian Express). He joined Prabhat Khabar in 1989 and stayed for more than 25 years, rising to editor-in-chief; he also served as additional information adviser in the Prime Minister’s Office under Chandra Shekhar, and received the Madhav Rao Sapre Award in August 2008 for his contribution to journalism (ThePrint). By 2023 he had authored 24 books in Hindi and English (The Indian Express).

Three elections to the Deputy Chairman’s chair

Harivansh was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha in 2014 and was reportedly part of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s think tank (ThePrint). In August 2018, as the NDA-backed candidate, he won the Deputy Chairman’s post by defeating Congress candidate B. K. Hariprasad 125 votes to 105 — just three days after losing a Public Accounts Committee ballot with only 26 votes (ThePrint). His 2018 affidavit declaration put his assets at more than Rs 4 crore, including 28.61 acres of agricultural land in Ballia, and disclosed three cases in which cognisance had been taken, with five charges under Sections 500 and 501 of the Indian Penal Code; he had never been convicted in any case (ThePrint).

His second win came in the 2020 Deputy Chairman election, when he was re-elected by voice vote on 14 September 2020 after his name was proposed by BJP president J. P. Nadda and seconded by Leader of the House Thawarchand Gehlot; the opposition had fielded Manoj Jha but did not ask for a vote, being short of numbers (The Hindu). The third win was the most remarkable: after his Bihar term ended on 9 April 2026, President Murmu nominated him to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of nominated member Ranjan Gogoi, and on 17 April 2026 he was elected unopposed for a third consecutive term — the first nominated member to hold the post (ABP Live; The Tribune). The arc from a 125–105 ballot to a voice vote to an unopposed election shows a presiding officer whose cross-party acceptance grew even as his own party repeatedly switched sides — a stat, a source trail, and an implication few 2018 profiles could have foreseen.

Election	Opponent	Mode / result	Proposed by
August 2018	B. K. Hariprasad (Congress)	Ballot: 125–105	NDA-backed candidature
14 September 2020	Manoj Jha (RJD, joint opposition)	Voice vote; opposition did not seek a division	J. P. Nadda, seconded by Thawarchand Gehlot
17 April 2026	None (unopposed)	Voice vote; SP and TMC walked out	J. P. Nadda, seconded by S. Phangnon Konyak

(The table distills ThePrint, The Hindu, and The Tribune accounts of the three elections.)

The constitutional-office question — and BRICS diplomacy

The most revealing episode of Harivansh’s tenure came in May 2023, when Nitish Kumar had taken the JD(U) out of the NDA and into the opposition Mahagathbandhan, yet Harivansh attended the inauguration of the new Parliament building — boycotted by most of the opposition, including his own party — and read out speeches by the absent President and Vice-President (The Indian Express). JD(U) leaders protested but took no action: the party’s own defence was that he was performing constitutional duties, and a source close to him pointed to precedent — from Najma Heptulla to P. J. Kurien, Deputy Chairpersons had kept their posts through changes in their parties’ positions, because the office sits above party lines (The Indian Express). The same account notes Nitish named Harivansh as one of four people who persuaded him to switch from the Mahagathbandhan to the NDA in July 2017 — a reminder that the Deputy Chairman’s independence and his patron’s calculations have always been entangled (The Indian Express).

Beyond the chamber, Harivansh carried India’s parliamentary diplomacy abroad. He was part of the Indian delegation, led by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, to the 11th BRICS Parliamentary Forum in Brasilia on 3–5 June 2025, and on 12 June he briefed reporters that the forum’s joint declaration had unanimously condemned the Pahalgam terrorist attack and called for zero tolerance of terrorism, intelligence-sharing, and cutting off terrorist financing (The New Indian Express). Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly praised his conduct in the chair; in April 2026, opposition leader Mallikarjun Kharge, while congratulating him, urged him to ensure fair space for opposition voices (The Tribune).

Frequently asked questions

Who is Harivansh Narayan Singh? He is an Indian journalist-turned-parliamentarian who has been Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha since August 2018. A former editor-in-chief of the Hindi daily Prabhat Khabar, he entered the Rajya Sabha from Bihar in 2014 and was nominated to the House by the President in April 2026.

How many times has Harivansh been elected Deputy Chairman? Three times: by a 125–105 ballot in 2018, by voice vote in 2020, and unopposed in April 2026. His third election made him the first nominated member of the Rajya Sabha ever to hold the Deputy Chairman’s post, a milestone noted by leaders across party lines.

What did Harivansh do before politics? He was a Hindi journalist for over 35 years, working at Dharmyug (1977–1981), Ravivar (1985–1989), and Prabhat Khabar (1989 onwards), where he became editor-in-chief. He also served briefly as a bank official and as an information adviser in the Prime Minister’s Office.

Why was Harivansh’s 2023 Parliament inauguration role controversial? His party, the JD(U), was boycotting the inauguration, but he attended in his constitutional capacity and read out speeches of the absent President and Vice-President. The party protested but took no action, accepting the argument that the Deputy Chairman’s office sits above party lines.

What was Harivansh’s role at the 2025 BRICS Parliamentary Forum? He was part of the Indian delegation to the 11th BRICS Parliamentary Forum in Brasilia in June 2025. He later briefed reporters that the forum’s joint declaration unanimously condemned the Pahalgam attack and urged zero tolerance of terrorism, plus intelligence-sharing and curbs on terrorist financing.

Timeline

• 1956 — Born in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, on 30 June (ThePrint).
• 1974 — Takes part in the socialist movement led by Jayaprakash Narayan (ThePrint).
• 1977 — Begins journalism as a sub-editor with Dharmyug (ThePrint).
• 1985 — Joins Ravivar as assistant editor (ThePrint).
• 1989 — Joins Prabhat Khabar; rises to editor-in-chief over 25+ years (ThePrint).
• 2008 — Receives the Madhav Rao Sapre Award for journalism (ThePrint).
• 2014 — Elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Bihar (ThePrint).
• 2018 — Elected Deputy Chairman, beating B. K. Hariprasad 125–105 (ThePrint).
• 2020 — Re-elected Deputy Chairman by voice vote on 14 September (The Hindu).
• 2023 — Attends the new Parliament building inauguration in constitutional capacity (The Indian Express).
• 2025 — Member of India’s delegation to the 11th BRICS Parliamentary Forum, Brasilia (The New Indian Express).
• 2026 — Nominated by President Murmu on 10 April; elected unopposed for a third term on 17 April (The Tribune).

What this profile does not claim

• It does not assert Harivansh’s current party affiliation after his April 2026 nomination; sources describe him as a nominated member and differ on party labels.
• It does not resolve ABP Live’s conflicting FAQ line dating his previous term’s end to 2024; it follows the 2026 dating supported by The Tribune.
• It does not claim he was Chairman of the Rajya Sabha; he presides as Deputy Chairman in the Chairman’s absence.
• It does not independently re-verify the 2018 affidavit figures or case details; they are reported as ThePrint reported them.
• It does not cover his committee-by-committee legislative record in detail; ABP Live lists committee roles that this pass did not independently verify item by item.
• It does not treat the 2026 nomination as a party-political appointment; the Gazette notification cited by ABP Live frames it as filling a nominated-member vacancy.

Sources

• ThePrint — Meet Harivansh, the journalist who is now Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha (tier1; biography, career, 2018 election, assets, cases)
• The Indian Express — A leader beyond Nitish party line: the case of RS Dy Chairperson Harivansh (tier1; 2023 inauguration episode, books, party dynamics)
• The Hindu — NDA candidate Harivansh Narayan Singh re-elected as Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman (tier1; 2020 voice-vote re-election)
• ABP Live — Harivansh Narayan Singh Nominated To Rajya Sabha By President Murmu After Term Ends (tier2; April 2026 nomination, committee roles)
• The Tribune — Harivansh Narayan Singh re-elected unopposed as Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman (tier1; April 2026 third-term election, first nominated member)
• The New Indian Express — India’s stand on terrorism, Pahalgam attack widely backed at 11th BRICS Parliamentary Forum: RS Dy Chairman (tier1; BRICS 2025, Pahalgam declaration)