Raj Kumar Singh is an Indian politician and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) currently serving in the second Narendra Modi government as Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Power, and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, and Minister of State in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
Singh, who is a 1975 batch Bihar cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, was the district magistrate in East Champaran and Patna in the 1980s. He was also Home Secretary and had joined the state home department in 1997. He is an MP representing Arrah of Bihar since May 2014.
PERSONAL LIFE:
Singh was born on December 20, 1952 in Supaul, Bihar to Haldhar Prasad Singh and Chandrakala Devi. He completed his B.A. (Honours) in English Literature, LL.B. and Diploma in Management from St. Stephen's College in Delhi, Magadh University in Bihar and RVB Delft University in Netherlands. He is married to Sheila Singh and together they have a son and a daughter.
EARLY CAREER:
Singh, who joined the Bihar state government in 1997 and was Home Secretary of the state from 1997 to 1999, was appointed Joint Secretary in the Home Ministry for five years from 1999 to 2004 during the National Democratic Alliance-led government when LK Advani was Home Minister.
He was made principal secretary in the road construction department during the first term of the Nitish Kumar government from 2006 to 2009, and he played a major role in improving the condition of roads in Bihar. Singh was picked by Union Defence Minister AK Antony in 2009 to head the department of defence production, and he was then appointed Union Home Secretary of India from June 30, 2011 to June 30, 2013 by the then Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram.
POLITICAL CAREER:
After retiring from service, Singh joined the BJP on December 13, 2013 and contested the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from Arrah. He won the election after beating his rival, Sribhagwan Singh Kushwaha of the RJD, by a margin of over 135,000 votes. He was appointed Minister of Power (Independent Charge) and Minister of New and Renewable Energy (Independent Charge) on September 3, 2017 under the first Narendra Modi government.
During the 2019 general election, Singh once again contested from Arrah and retained his seat after defeating Raju Yadav of CPI (ML) Liberation by 1,47,285 votes. Following the victory, he was appointed as Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Power, and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, and Minister of State in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
SOCIAL:
Raj Kumar Singh keeps his followers updated through Facebook - Raj Kumar Singh/@RajKumarSinghIndia, and Twitter - R. K. Singh/@RajKSinghIndia.