Is Manoj Sinha the next UP chief minister? Know all about Modi’s trusted lieutenant

Union minister of telecommunication Manoj Sinha has emerged as the likeliest candidate to be the next Uttar Pradesh chief minister. The BJP legislative party meeting will be held on Saturday in Lucknow where all winning 312 BJP MLAs will vote to elect the next UP CM. 

While names of BJP bigwigs like Rajnath Singh and Keshav Parsad Maurya have fallen through, Manoj Sinha seems like a party favourite. Especially because Sinha has great rapport with the central leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and Union Minister for Home Affairs Rajnath Singh.

Belonging to the upper caste Bumihar community, Sinha impressed the Prime Minister with his performance as minister of state for railways so much, that he was given independent charge of telecommunications. 

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Who is Manoj Sinha?

Bharatiya Janata Party member of Parliament (MP) from the Ghazipur constituency in Uttar Pradesh, Manoj Sinha is, currently, Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways and Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Communications. Sinha was included in the union cabinet in July, 2016 during the cabinet expansion by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

57-year-old Sinha has a B.Tech in Civil Engineering from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi. Later he also completed his M.Tech in Civil Engineering from the same Institute. Before joining active politics, he was a member of the General Council, School of Planning during 1999-2000. He has also been a Member of Committee on Energy and another Committee on Government Assurances. 

According to an online profile, Sinha is an agriculturist at heart and has been actively involved in working in backward villages where his interests primarily lie. His wife Neelam Sinha belongs to Maghara Bihar Sharif in Bihar’s Nalanda district.

Read | UP BJP MLAs to meet on March 18; may elect their leader 

Sinha's political career

Political career of Sinha started as the president of the Banaras Hindu University Students Union in 1982. And then in 1996 and 1999, he was elected to the Lok Sabha. He has been a member of BJP national council from 1989 to 1996. 

In the recent 2014 elections, he was elected to Lok Sabha and it’s his third term in the national politics. Earlier he was elected to Parliament in the years 1996 and 1999. 

Some of Sinha’s achievements in the House include highest attendance, most asked questions and successful utilisation of funds allotted for public welfare.  

He was also selected amongst the seven most honest members of Parliament by India Today recently. 

As a railway minister, Sinha announced Rs 250 crore package for the improvement of facilities and the expansion of Cantt Railway Station in Varanasi. 

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