E-Paper
Ex-U.P. minister named BJP’s poll in-charge for Tripura
Months after he failed to find a place in Yogi 2
Months after he failed to find a place in Yogi 2.0 government, former minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Mahendra Singh was appointed party’s election in-charge for Tripura where assembly polls are due early next year.
BJP chief JP Nadda issued a letter clearing Singh’s appointment as the election in-charge for Tripura with Rajya Sabha member Samir Oraon as co-incharge. “The appointments will take place with immediate effect,” the letter issued by Nadda read. The NDA government in Tripura has of late witnessed a series of defections, with six lawmakers having quit the NDA camp in the north eastern state.
“It’s a tough assignment but then Singh is a seasoned campaigner who is known for taking up challenges,” a BJP leader said about Singh.
Singh’s role as election in-charge in Assam where the BJP won for the first time in May 2016 had been noticed by the party leadership. In 2017 U.P. polls and later in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Singh had been used by the party to prepare the pitch for a high voltage campaign in Congress bastions of Amethi, Sultanpur and Rae Bareli where the BJP won.
Currently an MLC in UP legislative council, Singh has earlier been the national secretary. He was first made the minister of state in the Yogi Adityanath’s first term from 2017-2022 and later elevated as a cabinet minister in the same government though he subsequently wasn’t retained in the Yogi 2.0 government.
