BJP MP from Ladakh, Jamyang Tsering Namgyal's journey to overnight fame

The son of a carpenter father and homemaker mother insists on speaking in Hindi and Tibetan back home, but rarely English, which he knows well

Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, or JTN, as friends and followers of the 34-year-old Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha member from Ladakh address him, is India’s new social media star after his Tuesday’s speech in the House on Article 370 and Ladakh getting Union Territory status.

“My Parliament speech was not done for any praise or to make it go viral. I just spoke the Mann Ki Baat of the lovely people of Ladakh,” Jamyang Tsering Namgyal tweeted 24-hours later.

Praise and congratulatory messages from across the country, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, have inundated Namgyal’s