Former Union minister and BJP's Bengal leader Dinesh Trivedi has been appointed as the next High Commissioner to Bangladesh.
The appointment comes as India looks to reset its Bangladesh policy under the Tarique Rahman-led BNP government. The appointment marks an exception in which a politician takes on the portfolio as opposed to a career diplomat.
Trivedi, a former TMC MP, who became railway minister in 2011, fell out with the Trinamool, after proposing a hike in passenger fares. He succeeded Mamata Banerjee in the portfolio after TMC came to power in Bengal and the party supremo became the chief minister.
In 2019, Trivedi unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha elections, losing to Arjun Singh in Bengal's Barrackpore constituency. He was later nominated to the Rajya Sabha by TMC in 2021, before joining the BJP, ending his 23 year stint with Trinamool.
Trivedi is among the few politicians from West Bengal to hold a diplomatic position apart from former chief minister Siddharta Shankar Ray, who served as the Ambassador to the United States.
Trivedi is set to succeed career diplomat Pranay Verma, who, in turn will become Indian Ambassador to the European Union.