Giriraj Singh won against Kanhaiya Kumar from Bihar's Begusarai
BJP leader Giriraj Singh is one of the most controversial ministers in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet. Mr Singh, who was elected to Lok Sabha for the first time in 2014, has made headlines for his polarising comments in which he often tells critics of the government to "go to Pakistan".
Before being elected to the Lok Sabha, Giriraj Singh had been a member of Bihar's legislative assembly for over a decade. He was the Bihar's co-operatives minister from 2005 to 2010 and the animal husbandry minister from 2010 to 2013. When JDU chief Nitish Kumar pulled the plug on his alliance with the BJP over Narendra Modi's candidature as a prime ministerial candidate in 2013, Mr Singh was among the eleven ministers who were dropped from the cabinet. He later contested Lok Sabha polls from Nawada and won.
Giriraj Singh was appointed as Minister of State (Independent Charge), Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises by the Modi government.
Giriraj Singh's 2016 appeal to Hindus to produce more children had triggered a controversy.
"The Hindu society needs to increase their population, it has been continuously decreasing in eight states of the country," he had said at a function in Uttar Pradesh.
When the BJP released the list of candidates in Bihar for the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Giriraj Singh was the only minister to have been shunted out of his constituency.
He was fielded from Begusarai against Left candidate Kanhaiya Kumar. Mr Singh had his displeasure known to the BJP top brass and camped in Delhi for days, refusing to start his campaign. He later agreed to contest the polls after party chief Amit Shah's intervention. He has won from Begusarai.
During campaigning, Mr Singh received an Election Commission notice for a controversial comment he made at a rally in Bihar.
"I want to say who don't say Vande Mataram, can't worship the motherland - Giriraj's father and grandfather died on the Simaria ghat by the banks of the Ganga and did not need a grave. You on the other hand, need three-arm's-length of land. If you don't do it, the country will never forgive you," he had said.
A First Information Report or FIR was filed at a police station against the minister for the comment.