Delhi state president for Bharatiya Janata Party Manoj Tiwari is celebrating his 49th birthday today. He is the current Lok Sabha parliamentarian from North East Delhi seat and was appointed as Delhi BJP chief in 2016. Here are some interesting facts about the Bhojpuri actor-singer turned politician who defeated Sheila Dikshit in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Despite beginning his career from the Bhojpuri film industry as an actor and singer, Tiwari had been fighting for national issues across the country. He began his political career by contesting for the 15th Lok Sabha as a candidate for the Samajwadi Party in the Gorakhpur constituency. In that elections, he lost to BJP candidate Yogi Adityanath, who is the current Chief Minister of the state. Delhi Assembly Elections 2020: Manoj Tiwari Claims BJP Will Win More than 47 Seats in Upcoming Polls.

Tiwari continued his political struggle and had repeatedly said in media that he is not "a political person but was concerned for the development of Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh". It is to be known that his house in Mumbai was attacked in 2009, after he allegedly made some remarks against Shiv Sena. Also, there are some reports that he left Samajwadi party and joined BJP, after being influenced by Shatrughan Sinha.

With his career in political field gaining momentum, Tiwari supported Baba Ramdev's hunger strike at the Ramlila Ground protests in 2011 and protested the arrest of Anna Hazare. Following this, he joined BJP and contested 2014 Lok Sabha elections from North East Delhi seat. He defeated Anand Kumar from AAP.

Under his leadership, the BJP in Delhi recorded a record victory in 2017 MCD elections. He contested again in 2019 Lok Sabha polls against Congress stalwart candidate late Sheila Dikshit in North East Delhi constituency. He won the polls by a margin of 3.63 lakh votes. Currently, Tiwari is looking after the Delhi Assembly Elections 2020 and is incharge of the party's poll preparation in the state. Apart from his political career, Tiwari is also recognised for his song "Jiya Ho Bihar Ke Lala Jiya Tu Haazar Sala" in Gangs of Wasseypur, which became an instant hit and is being played at his political rallies.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 01, 2020 08:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).