Najma Heptulla
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Dr. Najma Heptulla is an Indian politician and Bharatiya Janata Party member of Parliament in India's Upper House (Rajya Sabha) from Rajasthan. She is the grand-niece of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, a prominent Indian freedom fighter, a strong proponent of united India, and its first Minister of Education after Independence. She lost to Hamid Ansari in the 13th Vice-Presidential Elections held in August 2007 by 233 votes.
[edit] Background
Najma was born in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh on April 13, 1940. She is married and has three daughters. She holds both a Masters' of Science Degree in Zoology, and a Ph.D. in Cardiac Anatomy.
[edit] Political career
She steadily climbed up in the Indian National Congress party, heading several divisions of the party's grassroots organizations, beginning with the posts of General Secretary and Vice-President of the Bombay Pradesh Congress Committee. Since 1980, she has been a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of parliament of India. Najma was the Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha from January 1985 to January 1986 and from 1988 to July 2004.
During the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government's tenure, Najma was nominated to head the Indian Council of Cultural Affairs. She was also designated to lead to Indian delegations on various foreign trips. Per media reports, her closeness to the National Democratic Alliance jeopardized her chances to being re-nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2004. She had also unsuccessfully sought the Congress party's nomination for Vice-President in 2002. She was also elected President of Inter-Parliamentary Union, a post which she held from October 16th, 1999 to September 27th, 2002.
All of these factors contributed to her departure to the Bharatiya Janata Party just prior to the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. Ms. Heptulla was-renominted to the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan in July 2004. However, with a new government in place, she lost her Deputy Chairman's post and was eventually forced out of the Indian Council of Cultural Affairs. She is a member of the BJP National Executive.
Najma Heptullah was nominated by the NDA as its candidate for the upcoming Vice Presidential Elections. She filed her papers on the 23rd of July, 2007. She lost the election to United Progressive Alliance candidate Mohammad Hamid Ansari.
[edit] External links
- Rajya Sabha Profile.
- Najma Heptullah Joins BJP. The Hindu. July 12th, 2004.
- Najma Heptullah, President of IPU.
- Najma Heptullah may be BJP’s new card for V-P poll. The Financial Express. July 15th, 2007.
- NDA puts up Najma Heptullah for vice-presidential poll. The Hindu. July 22nd, 2007.
| Preceded by Shyam Lal Yadav |
Deputy Chairperson, Rajya Sabha 1985–1986 |
Succeeded by M.M. Jacob |
| Preceded by Pratibha Patil |
Deputy Chairperson, Rajya Sabha 1988–2004 |
Succeeded by K. Rahman Khan |
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