Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, a prominent Muslim face of BJP, has staged a comeback to the Union Council of Ministers, 15 years after his stint as MoS for Information and Broadcasting in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government.
A two-time Rajya Sabha member, Naqvi, 57, is one of the Vice-Presidents of BJP and has been a spokesperson of the party for a long time.
BJP has on several occasions used Naqvi’s services to explain the party’s stand on minorities, especially Muslims.
A member of various key Parliamentary committees, Naqvi has been a prominent speaker of the party in the Upper House.
He was among others actively involved in organising logistics for BJP in this year’s Lok Sabha elections and campaigned extensively in Haryana and Maharashtra in the just-concluded Assembly polls in the two states.
A student of law, he contested first for the Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh in 1980 from Allahabad West from Janta Party Secular (Raj Narain), and then contested from Ayodhya as an independent in 1989.
He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1998 from Rampur, Uttar Pradesh and was appointed as Minister of State in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, with additional charge of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs in the Vajpayee Cabinet.
Married to Seema, a Hindu, Naqvi had participated in social, political activities and student’s youth movements.
He was detained at Naini Central Jail under Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) at the age of 17 during the Emergency in 1975. Naqvi had been a student leader and participated in the JP Movement.
He has been actively involved and associated with several socio-cultural and academic activities, including upliftment of artisans and spread of public awareness in remote villages by way of chaupals to promote art and culture.
Naqvi has authored three books: Syah (1991), Danga (1998) and Vaisali (2007).