Cabinet reshuffle: RK Singh, the man who arrested LK Advani in 1990, now a minister in PM Modi’s government

Former union home secretary Raj Kumar Singh, first came to limelight in 1990 after he arrested BJP leader LK Advani during the veteran’s Rath Yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya, has been made incharge of the Power Ministry as Minister of State (Independent Charge) and New and Renewable Energy Ministry in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third reshuffle on Sunday.

Singh a 1975 batch IAS officer joined Bharatiya Janata Party in 2013 after retirement. He is now a Member of Parliament (MP) from Bihar’s Arah. Prior joining full time politics, he as an bureaucrat had served both in Bihar and Centre.

With the Centre Singh was secretary defence production in the UPA government, joint secretary in the home ministry, when Advani was the home minister.

Singh, 64, first came to limelight when he was given the task of arresting LK Advani in Samastipur in Bihar, during the BJP leader’s Rath Yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya, by the then Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.

He is also known for his contribution to schemes for modernisation of prison and police, and laying down a framework for disaster management.

Singh as home secretary oversaw alleged saffron terror cases involving blasts in Malegaon and Samjhauta Express and had courted controversy by releasing names of several suspects.

Singh had also openly criticised the ticket distribution process by BJP in 2015 Bihar assembly elections.

(With PTI inputs)