Sinha declared this as an “unsecured” mortgage in his election affidavit. Sinha was elected to Lok Sabha from Ghazipur, UP, in 2014 however in 2019 he misplaced to Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Afzal Ansari.

He was appointed Governor of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2020, nearly a 12 months after the state was cut up and Article 370 was abrogated.

Sinha’s 2019 Lok Sabha election affidavit mentions 5 “unsecured” loans including as much as Rs 57 lakh. The mortgage from Sherpuria is the best — there are loans of Rs 3 lakh, Rs 6 lakh, Rs 8 lakh and Rs 15 lakh from 4 different people.

Outside Sherpuria’s workplace 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 fairly politically lively within the space even after he misplaced the Lok Sabha polls in 2019. But after his appointment as L-G of Jammu & Kashmir, given his Constitutional place, he has stayed away from celebration actions.

The Indian Express despatched an in depth questionnaire to Sinha. He was unavailable for remark however a supply near 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 supply stated. The supply added that the L-G has “made many attempts to reach out to him and return the money,” however Rai has been unavailable.

When contacted Bhanupratap Singh, president of Ghazipur district BJP, distanced the celebration 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,” stated Singh. A outstanding BJP chief in Varanasi, who spoke on the situation that he not be named, stated: “Rai was known for his proximity to senior party leaders and whenever he came here, local party leaders regularly met him.”