Manoj Sinha: 6 things about contender for UP chief minister’s post

Union minister Manoj Sinha has emerged as a possible candidate for the chief minister’s post in Uttar Pradesh, following the BJP’s stupendous success in the just-concluded assembly polls.

While a section of the party is confident that Sinha’s name will be announced after the meeting of the newly-elected party MLAs, the Bharatiya Janata Party leadership, however, has not spelt out its choice.

Here are 6 points on Sinha, a low-profile but hard-working minister in the Modi government:

1) Sinha, minister of communication (independent charge) and minister of state for railways, is a civil engineer. He was a student of IIT-BHU.

2) During his student days, Sinha was the students’ union president in the Banaras Hindu University.

3) In his last meeting in Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi effusively praised Sinha for his work and commitment as the railway minister.

4) Sinha is a Bhumihar (an upper caste) by birth. He deliberately maintains a low-profile image, wears his trademark dhoti and long kurta.

5) Sinha is a three-time BJP MP in Lok Sabha. He represents Ghazipur in the Lower House.

6) As the junior minister for railways, Sinha handled key assignments including the task to connect several cities in eastern Uttar Pradesh.