Jayant Sinha replaces ‘ageing’ father in cabinet

Sunday’s appointment of Jayant Sinha as minister in the Narendra Modi cabinet has come as a big shot in the arm for a resurgent BJP in poll-bound Jharkhand. Sinha’s elevation is likely to speed up development projects in the tribal-dominated constituency hit largely by left wing extremists.

Sunday’s appointment of Jayant Sinha as minister in the Narendra Modi cabinet has come as a big shot in the arm for a resurgent BJP in poll-bound Jharkhand.

Sinha’s elevation is likely to speed up development projects in the tribal-dominated constituency hit largely by left wing extremists.

The first-time MP from Hazaribagh and son of former finance minister Yashwant Sinha is an IIT alumnus and Harvard Business School graduate.

Sinha, 51, a private equity fund manager returned to India after a 20-year career in the US to take charge of his family’s pocket borough of Hazaribagh before the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year.

While his father’s credentials have helped him scale political heights, his own qualification and resolve to bring changes in the lives voters has made him popular in no time, said political analysts.

“He will now be able to complete the unfinished tasks taken up by his father, especially bringing the
rail project to Hazaribagh, developing the area into an IT hub, and also bringing AIIMS to the area,” said senior BJP leader Dr BP Rukhyar.

Jharkhand JD(U) general secretary Baleshwar Prasad Mehta said the people of Hazaribagh were feeling rewarded again.

(Inputs from Shailesh Sharma in Hazaribagh)