Nirmal Kumar Singh

Nirmal Kumar Singh
Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly
Assumed office
30 April 2018
Preceded by Kavinder Gupta
Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir
In office
4 April 2016 – 29 April 2018
Governor Narinder Nath Vohra
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti
Preceded by Himself
In office
1 March 2015 – 6 January 2016
Governor Narinder Nath Vohra
Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed
Preceded by Tara Chand
Succeeded by Governor's Rule
Member of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly
Assumed office
23 December 2014
Preceded by Manohar Lal Sharma
Constituency Billawar
Personal details
Born (1956-01-22) 22 January 1956
Basohli, Jammu and Kashmir, India
Nationality Indian
Political party Bharatiya Janata Party
Occupation Politician

Nirmal Kumar Singh is an Indian politician and present Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly. He is a former Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. He is a leader of Bharatiya Janata Party. On 1 March 2015 he assumed the charge as Minister for Power Development and Housing and Urban Development.

He was elected to the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly in the 2014 assembly election from Billawar in Kathua district. He defeated former minister Manohar Lal Sharma of Indian National Congress by a margin of 17,975 votes.[1] Dr Nirmal Singh has done Ph.D in History from Jammu University in 1988 and now serves as a professor of history in Jammu University.[2]

Early life and education

Dr Nirmal Singh was born on January 22, 1956 to a humble family in Karanwara Basohli, Jammu and Kashmir. He did his primary education in his native place. He is the youngest to his two brothers. His father was a security aide of erstwhile Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir. He has served as the professor of History at Jammu University.

Political career

Singh started taking an active interest in political activities at a young age. He was arrested during the Emergency period in 1975. After serving the ABVP as a pracharak in different parts of the country, Dr Singh returned to Jammu and joined the University of Jammu as a lecturer in the Post Graduate Department of History. Besides teaching at the department, he also took the mantle of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad state president and following a directive from the RSS joined the BJP. He was appointed the state general secretary of the party in 1998.

Singh contested several Lok Sabha and state assembly elections over the course of 25 years but had to wait until 2014 for his maiden victory. 58-year-old Singh won the assembly election held in 2014 from Billawar constituency in Kathua district by defeating sitting Congress MLA by a margin of nearly 18,000 votes. He is among the first BJP MLAs to be sworn-in as a minister in India's only Muslim-majority state. A long time RSS supporter, the BJP leader is considered the main force behind the rise of party in Jammu region of the state over the years.

He sparked controversy when he described killing of a militant in kashmir as "accident" .

On 30 April 2018, Singh resigned as the Deputy Chief Minister as a part of a cabinet reshuffle.[3]

References

  1. ↑ http://eciresults.nic.in/ConstituencywiseS0966.htm?ac=66
  2. ↑ Dr. Nirmal Kumar Singh(Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP)):Constituency- BILLAWAR(KATHUA) - Affidavit Information of Candidate:
  3. ↑ "Nirmal Singh resigns as J-K deputy CM ahead of cabinet reshuffle". Economic Times. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
Preceded by
President's Rule		 Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir
1 March 2015 – 7 January 2016		 Succeeded by
President's Rule
Preceded by
President's Rule		 Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir
4 April 2016-Incumbent		 Succeeded by
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