Lucknow: Rajya Sabha member B L Verma, who took oath as a Union minister of state for the second time, started his political innings as a common worker of the BJP. He was sworn in as a minister in the new NDA government on Sunday. Verma, who hails from the extremely backward Lodh community in Uttar Pradesh's Budaun district, entered politics after being influenced by former state chief minister, the late, Kalyan Singh.

As he belonged to the same caste as that of Singh, his identity grew and he later became active in the state's political scenario. He rose in the BJP state organisation and was made the state vice-president of the BJP.

After the formation of the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh in 2017, he was made the chairperson of the UP State Construction and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited in 2018 and given the status of minister of state. Verma has also served as the national vice president of the BJP's OBC Morcha.

Verma has time and again impressed senior BJP leaders with his organisational skills and got the opportunity to go to Rajya Sabha in November 2020.

Within a year of being elected as a Rajya Sabha member, he became a minister of state in the previous Narendra Modi government during an expansion of the ministerial council.

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