Gen VK Singh likely to be new J-K LG; Manoj Sinha to contest LS polls from Ghazipur

New Delhi: General V K Singh (retd) is set to replace Manoj Sinha as the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir as the latter is likely to be fielded from Ghazipur in the Lok Sabha elections.

Update: BJP on Wednesday announced Paras Nath Rai's candidature from Ghazipur.

Singh, BJP MP from Ghaziabad, last month announced that he would not contest 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Singh, the Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation and Road Transport and Highways, represented Ghaziabad constituency --“ a BJP stronghold -- for two terms since 2014.

Singh, who served as the 24th chief of staff in the Indian Army from 2010 to 2012, joined the BJP after retirement and took a plunge into electoral politics when he was fielded from Ghaziabad to replace senior party leader Rajnath Singh for the Lok Sabha polls in 2014.

In the Narendra Modi government, the veteran served as the Union Minister of State for External Affairs and also held independent charge of Ministry of Development of the North-eastern Region, Ministry of Planning and Statistics and Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.

In 2015, he spearheaded 'Operation Raahat' for evacuation of Indian citizens and other foreign nationals from war-torn Yemen. In 2016, he led 'Operation Sankat Mochan' to rescue Indians from South Sudan.

Having earned the reputation of being a trouble-shooter minister particularly in conflict-hit situations overseas, Singh also led efforts to locate missing Indian workers in Iraq in 2018, at a time when the dreaded terrorist group ISIS wreaked havoc in the region.