Controversial first-time MLA from Nowshera Ravinder Raina to head BJP in J&K

Raina, a post-graduate in international law, hails from Lamberi village near Nowshera. He was in the merchant navy, but quit the job in the late 1990s and returned home where he came in contact with RSS leaders.

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Raina is also known for his tough stand against the Hurriyat Conference and violence in Kashmir and Pakistan.

First-time MLA from Nowshera in Rajouri district, Ravinder Raina, was on Sunday appointed the president of the BJP’s Jammu and Kashmir unit.

Raina replaced Sat Sharma, who was inducted in the BJP-PDP Cabinet as Housing and Urban Development Minister.
According to a letter issued by BJP national general secretary Arun Singh, the appointment would come into force with immediate effect.

Raina, an RSS activist, has courted controversy in the past — first, when he took oath as an MLA in the name of “Mata Vaishno Devi” in 2015, and then when he assaulted independent MLA Engineer Abdul Rashid inside the Legislative Assembly for hosting a beef party at the MLA hostel the same year. He is also known for his tough stand against the Hurriyat Conference and violence in Kashmir and Pakistan.

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Raina, a post-graduate in international law, hails from Lamberi village near Nowshera. He was in the merchant navy, but quit the job in the late 1990s and returned home where he came in contact with RSS leaders. After he passed initial training camp (ITC) of RSS, he was posted as the principal of Vidya Mandir, a school run by Vidya Bharti at Dhangri in Rajouri district.

Raina had participated in the two-month Amarnath agitation in 2008 and joined the BJP after that. In the 2014 state Assembly polls, he was elected from Nowshera Assembly constituency as a BJP nominee.

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