Manoj Sinha To Replace GC Murmu As Jammu & Kashmir Lieutenant Governor; Things To Know About The Former Union Minister

Former Union Minister Manoj Sinha will be the new Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, as President Kovind accepts the resignation of Girish Chandra Murmu. Here's a look at some key facts about Manoj Sinha.

Manoj Sinha (Photo by PRAKASH SINGH / AFP)

Former Union Minister Manoj Sinha will be the new Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, as President Kovind accepts the resignation of Girish Chandra Murmu. In a sudden development, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu had    resigned from his post on Wednesday, the day when the abrogation of Article 370 completed a year. Sinha, unlike Murmu is a political figure  and was one of the front-runners in the race to UP CM's post in 2017 but was edged out by  Yogi Adityanath.  There were speculations that CAG and former Union Home Secretary Rajiv Maharshi could be made the next Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. However, by Thursday morning it was confirmed that it will be Sinha who will replace Murmu in the Union Territory. Murmu's resignation has come exactly a year after Home Minister Amit Shah announced of revoking Article 370 and Article 35A from Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into two Union territories as J&K and Ladakh.

Who is Manoj Sinha? Manoj Sinha, a dhoti-clad civil engineer, is senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and enjoys immense popularity in Uttar Pradesh. He was Minister of Communications (independent charge) and Minister of State (MoS), Railways in the Government of India. Sinha is a three-time Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member of Parliament (MP) in the Lok Sabha, representing Ghazipur in eastern Uttar Pradesh in the Lower House. In 2019 elections, he lost from the Ghazipur constituency by a margin of 1.19 lakh votes to Afzal Ansari, the brother of don-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari. He maintains a low-profile image, wears his trademark dhoti and long kurta. He is fondly called Vikas Purush by his followers. He is an alumnus of IIT-BHU. The 61-year-old Sinha was born on July 1, 1959 in Mohanpura of Ghazipur district of eastern UP and has been actively involved in working for the backward villages of eastern Uttar Pradesh. His political career started when he was elected the president of Banaras Hindu University Students Union in 1982. He was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1996 and repeated the term in 1999. Watch: Manoj Sinha appointed as lieutenant governor of J&K