Kirti Vardhan Singh

Kirti Vardhan Singh (born 1 March 1966) is an Indian politician from Uttar Pradesh. He is currently serving as a Minister of State for External Affairs in Third Modi Government and Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha for the Gonda constituency for 5th time. He is locally known by the alias Raja Bhaiya, being connected with erstwhile Taluqdari of Mankapur.

Political Career
He was member of 12th and 14th Lok Sabha from Gonda, Uttar Pradesh as a Samajwadi Party candidate. In March 2014, he resigned from the SP and joined Bharatiya Janata Party and contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, again from Gonda, where he was ekected in the 16th and 17th Lok Sabhas. Singh is known to be an environmental activist. In July 2018, he won a case against State Government of Uttar Pradesh in Green Tribunal, a case pertaining to illegal sand mining by gangs in his constituency.

In 2024 he was re-elected as the Member of Parliament from Gonda in the pivotal 18th Lok Sabha elections, from a BJP ticket. He is one of the 33 BJP MPs in Uttar Pradesh, in the difficult election period. He defeated the INDI Alliance candidate Shreya Verma (SP) with a margin of 46222 Votes. Later that month, he took part in the oath ceremony as a Minister of State in the council of ministers. He has been made a junior minister in the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Ministry of External Affairs.

In 2023 he gained attention for his involvement in a historic event on April 8, 2023. Singh piloted a powered hang glider above Pinjore Airport in Haryana, with veteran skydiver Shital Mahajan performing a jump as part of the inauguration of the National Aero Modelling Fellowship Program by the Aero Club of India. This event marked the first instance of a civilian jumping from a powered hang glider piloted by an active MP. The event, organized by the Aero Club of India representing the Federation of Aeronautical Internationale in India, received praise for its historic significance and potential for national recognition by the FAI.

Early life and education
He was born on 1 March 1966 to Raja Anand Singh and Veena Singh of Mankapur Taluquadari.

He pursued higher education in the field of Geology and successfully obtained a Master of Science (M.Sc.) degree from the Lucknow University, where he specialised in geological sciences.

On 16 November 2002, Kirti Vardhan Singh married Madhushree Singh. The couple has a son, Kunwar Jai Vardhan Singh, who was born on 10 November 2006. As a family, they are involved in various social and cultural activities.