Naqvi, a BJP Muslim face, is Union Minister again

New Delhi, May 30 (IANS) Rajya Sabha member Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Thursday took oath as a Union Minister. He was previously the Union Minister of Minority Affairs.

Naqvi is among the well-known Muslim leaders of the pro-Hindutva Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

As a student leader at the age of 17, Naqvi was an active in politics during the period of Emergency in the mid-1970s and was detained in Naini Central Jail in Maharashtra.

He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1998, and subsequently given the post of Minister of State of Information and Broadcasting in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. He was given additional charge of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs from 2001 to 2003.

From 2003 to 2008, Naqvi served as a member of Haj Committee, and from March 2003 to February 2004, as Chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Functioning of Wakf Boards.

He became Minister of State for Minority Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs on May 26, 2014 in Narendra Modi government. Later in July 2016, he got independent charge of the Ministry of Minority Affairs.

Naqvi was born to A.H. Naqvi and Sakina Begum on October 15, 1957, in Bhadari in Allahabad. He studied arts and mass communications.

Beside politics, he takes keen interest in participating in various social, cultural and literary activities.

His favourite sports are kabbadi, chess and volleyball. He has written three books - "Syah" in 1991, "Danga" in 1998 and "Vaisali" in 2008.

Naqvi was elected the All India Vice-President of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha in 1992 and served in the post till 1997. He has served as Secretary in the BJP from 2000-2002 as well as General Secretary, spokesperson and in-charge of several important states from 2002 to 2006.