Man held for ‘faking’ PMO access lent money to J&K L-G, got OK for subsidy

He was appointed Governor of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2020, almost a year after the state was split and Article 370 was abrogated.

Sinha’s 2019 Lok Sabha election affidavit mentions five “unsecured” loans adding up to Rs 57 lakh. The loan from Sherpuria is the highest — there are loans of Rs 3 lakh, Rs 6 lakh, Rs 8 lakh and Rs 15 lakh from four other individuals.

Outside Sherpuria’s office at Golf Course Road, New Delhi. (Express Photo by Abhinav Saha)

Sinha, who had been elected as MP from Ghazipur in 1996 and 1999, was quite politically active in the area even after he lost the Lok Sabha polls in 2019. But after his appointment as L-G of Jammu & Kashmir, given his Constitutional position, he has stayed away from party activities.

The Indian Express sent a detailed questionnaire to Sinha. He was unavailable for comment but a source close to him claimed that Sinha has had no contact with Rai since 2015-16.

“The L-G was transparent and declared the money received as unsecured loan in the affidavit”, the source said. The source added that the L-G has “made many attempts to reach out to him and return the money,” but Rai has been unavailable.

When contacted Bhanupratap Singh, president of Ghazipur district BJP, distanced the party from Rai.

“Rai is neither a member nor an office bearer of the BJP. He used to visit Ghazipur and meet us but he has nothing to do with the party,” said Singh. A prominent BJP leader in Varanasi, who spoke on the condition that he not be named, said: “Rai was known for his proximity to senior party leaders and whenever he came here, local party leaders regularly met him.”