A medical practitioner by profession Dr Raman Singh was born in Thathapur village in Kawardha district of Madhya Pradesh to V H Singh and Sudha Singh on October 15, 1952. He did his Bachelor of Science and then B.A.M.S at Ravishankar University in Raipur.

He was the member of Madhya Pradesh Assembly for two consecutive terms beginning 1990 till 1998. He was elected to the 13th Lok Sabha in 1999 and was inducted as the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry.

However, Singh, state BJP president, has all along been in contention for chief ministership, even though he was perceived a distant third compared to former Union Minister Dilip Singh Judeo, the only BJP leader in Chhattisgarh with a state-wide appeal, and Union Minister of State for Mines Ramesh Bais.

But circumstances turned in favour of Singh when cash-on-camera scam involving Judeo took place a few weeks before the December 01 polling, ruling out his chances for the top post.

Singh had to sacrifice his ministerial berth at the Centre and was assigned the onerous task of spearheading the saffron challenge to resourceful rival and his predecessor Ajit Jogi.
He likes spending his leisure time travelling or reading books. He has a great passion for sports like cricket and volleyball. Interestingly, he is a big patron of Youth Club of Kawardha, the place where his roots are. Last but not the least, he runs a programme ‘Bharat Mata Chikitsalya’ which provides free medical aid to poor and the needy.