Giriraj Singh
Born Name: Shandilya Giriraj Singh
Date of Birthday: 8 September 1952
Place of Birth: Barahiya, Bihar, India
Political party: Bharatiya Janata Party
Spouse(s): Uma Sinha
Children: 1
Siblings: Jairaj Singh
Alma mater: Magadh University
Official Website: girirajsingh.in

Giriraj Singh (born 8 September 1952) is an Indian politician and the Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Department in the 23rd Ministry of the Republic of India with a cabinet minister rank. He is the Member of Parliament from the Begusarai parliamentary constituency in the 17th Lok Sabha. He has also formerly served as Minister of Cooperative, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Resources Development in the Government of Bihar.

Personal life
Giriraj Singh was born in Barahiya town in Lakhisarai district of Bihar to Ramavtar Singh and Tara Devi. He graduated from Magadh University in 1971. He is married to Uma Sinha and has a daughter.

Political career
Singh served in the government of Bihar as Co-Operative Minister from 2005 to 2010 and as Animal Husbandry minister from 2010 to 2013. He has been a staunch supporter of Narendra Modi from the beginning. He publicly supported Modi for Prime Minister for a long time. He was among the eleven BJP ministers who were dismissed by Nitish Kumar as a result of breaking the JDU-BJP alliance. He was a member of the Bihar State Bharatiya Janata Party's 16-member state election committee and a State Minister (independent charge) of the "Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises ", MP from Nawada Constituency (2014 Indian General Election).

In May 2019, he became the Cabinet Minister of the newly formed Ministry of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries after defeating CPI candidate Kanhaiya Kumar in the 2019 Indian general election.

In July 2021, he became Minister of Rural Development and Minister of Panchayati Raj in Second Modi ministry after the Cabinet reshuffle replacing Narendra Singh Tomar.

Controversies
In April 2016, he stirred up a controversy with his remark stating that the population should be controlled by ensuring that people of all religions have the same number of children in their families. In October 2016, he was embroiled in a controversy when he urged Hindus to produce more children. Again on 4 November 2016, Giriraj Singh stressed that the Hindus in India need to increase their population.

In January 2020, he raised controversy by remarking that Indians eating beef outside the country was "a matter of concern". He also suggested teaching Hindu religious texts to school children.

On 12 February 2020, NDTV reported that Giriraj Singh said sites like Deoband in UP and Shaheen Bagh in Delhi, where protests have been on for two months against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), especially by Muslim women, are breeding grounds for suicide bombers.

On 23 February 2020, he made yet another controversial remark by saying "India's founding fathers made a mistake by not ensuring all Muslims were sent to Pakistan and that all Hindus were brought to India".

Positions held

• 2002 – May 2014: Member, Bihar Legislative Council
• 2005 – 2010: Cooperative Minister, Government of Bihar
• 2010 – 2013: Cabinet Minister, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Resources Development, Government of Bihar
• May 2014: Elected to 16th Lok Sabha
• 1 Sep 2014 – 9 November 2014: Member, Joint Committee on Salaries and Allowances of Members of Parliament.
• Sep. 2014 – 9 November 2014: Member, Standing Committee on Labour
• 9 November 2014: Union Minister of State, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
• 4 September 2017: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
• 30 May 2019: Cabinet Minister of Ministry of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries.