Manoj Sinha, former union minister and senior BJP leader from Uttar Pradesh, was on Thursday appointed as the new Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. He is the first political leader to take charge as the LG of the union territory, reports PTI.

2/5

Vikas Purush

Known as 'vikas purush' (man involved in developmental work), Sinha is a three-time Lok Sabha MP who held charge of the Communication Ministry as a Minister of State in 2016 when the telecom industry was engaged in the sale of spectrum.

PTI

3/5

An IITian

A B.Tech in civil engineering from the Institute of Technology (now known as IIT-BHU), Sinha has been credited with overcoming the menace of call dropping by holding widespread consultations with telecom operators.

4/5

Final time lucky

Elected to Lok Sabha in 1996 for the first time, Sinha, an agriculturist, is the first politician to be elected as LG of the union territory. Earlier, the Centre had appointed Satya Pal Malik, a politician, as governor of the erstwhile state before it was bifurcated into two union territories -- Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir -- on August 5 last year. Sinha, who was elected to Lok Sabha in 1999 and 2014, was front runner for the post of Uttar Pradesh chief minister after the party walked away with 265 seats in the 403-member assembly.

5/5

Helping hand

Born in Mohanpura of Ghazipur district of eastern UP, he began his political career after being elected the president of the Banaras Hindu University Students Union in 1982, and has been actively involved in working for the backward villages. The 61-year-old, who is known for his massive connect with the people of rural areas, comes in place of former IAS officer Girish Chandra Murmu who hurriedly tendered his resignation on Wednesday night.