Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi (English: Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, born October 15, 1957, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh) is a politician and statesman of Bharatiya Janata Party. He has been the National Vice President of BJP. He is the Cabinet Minister of Minority Affairs in the Government of India in the 17th Lok Sabha of India. Rajya Sabha MP and one of the prominent Muslim faces of BJP, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has also taken oath as a cabinet minister in the second government of Narendra Modi.
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, of humble and friendly nature, has established his identity as a big Muslim leader in the party as well as in the entire country. Naqvi, who has been interested in politics since his student days, has been the vice president of ‘BJP Yuva Morcha’. Taking one step forward, he has established his identity.
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi was born on October 15, 1957 in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. Bhadari is a small village in Pratappur block of Handia tehsil. After completing his schooling from this village, when Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi went to college, politics started attracting him. When it became difficult to travel to and from the village every day, he decided to stay in Allahabad and study. During this time he met socialist leader Rajnarayan. This meeting further influenced him to come forward in politics. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi started liking his company and he was a part of many movements. He was part of the movement during the Emergency.[1] During the Emergency in 1975, he was active in Jayaprakash Narayan’s “Sampoorna Kranti” movement and at the age of just 17, he was interned in “MISA-DIR” jail. When Rajnarayan defeated Indira Gandhi on behalf of Janata Party, many people including Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi were filled with enthusiasm.
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi had now started making his mark in politics. His post-graduation degree in mass communication was useful to him in politics. From 1978-1979, he became the Vice President of Yuva Janta. Apart from this, his love with a Hindu girl Seema was in the news. There were objections regarding this relationship in the house of both Seema and Naqvi. Despite all this, Naqvi did not give up and ignoring all the opposition, he got married to Seema. He also did a court marriage. Both Islamic and Hindu festivals are celebrated in the same manner in Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi’s house.
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, known as the ‘minority face’ of the Bharatiya Janata Party, has taken oath as a Union Minister in the Narendra Modi government for the second time. This time he has been included as a cabinet minister. In the political-social field, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay, Jayprakash Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohia, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani and Narendra Modi, believes in the principle that learning should never stop, because Every chapter of life is a lesson.
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Minority Affairs in the Narendra Modi Cabinet, has made an important contribution in increasing the Haj quota of the country. As a result of the efforts of the Ministry, Saudi Arabia increased India’s annual Haj quota by 25 thousand for 2019. India’s Haj quota has been kept the highest after Indonesia. In the year 2019, about two lakh pilgrims from India, more than from Pakistan, will be able to perform Haj. 2,340 Muslim women going for Haj without “Mehram” (male relative) will now be able to join the Haj pilgrimage.[2]
Apart from politics, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi is also a writer and his three books – ‘Syaah’ (1991), ‘Danga’ (1998) and ‘Vaishali’ (2007) have been published.
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who was active in many movements and campaigns regarding democratic values and social concerns, did post graduation in Mass Communication. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who has so far contested two assembly (1991, 1993) and three Lok Sabha (1998, 1999, 2009) elections as a BJP candidate, was elected the first Muslim Lok Sabha member of BJP from Rampur parliamentary seat of Uttar Pradesh in 1998. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi had earlier tried to reach the Assembly twice from Sadar Assembly seat of Mau district on BJP ticket, but failed. In 1991, he lost the election to CPI’s Imtiaz Ahmed by just 133 votes. After that, in the 1993 assembly elections, BSP’s Naseem defeated him by about 10,000 votes.
He was elected Rajya Sabha member in 2002, 2010, 2016. In 1998, during the tenure of Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who was the Minister of State for Information Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs in the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, important decisions like “Direct to Home” broadcasting system and giving authorized status of industry to the Indian film sector were taken. In the first term of Narendra Modi government, he got the post of Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs.
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, popular for his simple and sociable nature, successfully completed important legislative tasks by maintaining contact-dialogue-coordination with the opposition despite the government being in minority in the Rajya Sabha. National General Secretary of BJP, National Vice President, National Spokesperson, National Vice President of BJP’s youth wing Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, Head of Central Election Management-Coordination during 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Member of the Central Election Committee and Election Reforms Committee of the party. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who has held many important and challenging responsibilities as the President of the ICICI, has also been in-charge of organizations of many states.[2]
