Giriraj Singh goes for name change, adds his Gotra Shandilya

Patna: Union minister Giriraj Singh announced on Monday that he shall be prefixing his 'gotra' to his name and, henceforth, called "Shandilya Giriraj Singh" as he asked Hindus to follow the practice to "save" the Sanatana Dharma.

The senior BJP leader, who represents Nawada Lok Sabha seat in Bihar, took to Twitter to make the announcement.

"To save the country, Sanatana has to be saved and to save Sanatana, we will have to tread the path shown by sages and seers and attach ourselves to our respective Gothras. From today, I change my name to Shandilya Giriraj Singh, after Rishi Shandilya. I request all Sanatanis to prefix their Gothras to their names", Singh tweeted in Hindi.

Singh, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, is no stranger to controversial comments.