New Delhi/Jaipur, Jul 12 (IANS): Jitendra Singh, a Congress Lok Sabha MP from Rajasthan and one of the closest aides of party general secretary Rahul Gandhi, was Tuesday named the new junior home minister.

The 41-year-old Congress leader hails from the erstwhile royal family of Alwar, from where he was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2009.

Before he fought the Lok Sabha elections, Singh was handpicked by Gandhi to be his political advisor and was appointed as All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary in 2008 along with Meenakshi Natarajan, a former president of the Congress' student's wing.

Singh is usually seen with Gandhi, particularly when parliament is in session.

Always wearing a childlike smile, the low-profile politician is rarely seen interacting with the media.

The titular maharaja of Alwar, Singh is the grandson of Tej Singh Prabhakar, the last ruler of Alwar, famous for its Sariska tiger sanctuary.

A commerce graduate, he has twice been a member of the Rajasthan assembly.

The news of him being inducted into the cabinet enthralled Alwar residents. "He is a very humble and a nice person. He visits his constituency on regular basis," Narendra Kumar of Alwar said.

Rakesh Sharma, another resident, said people are generally "very happy that our Raja sahib has become a minister".

"We expect a lot of development to take place in our area," said Sharma.