Parveen Amanullah (1958-1 October 2023) was an Indian social activist turned politician. She held the post of Minister of Social Welfare in the Government of Bihar led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar from 2010 to 2014.

Early life

Amanullah was the daughter of former Member of the Lok Sabha from Kishanganj Lok Sabha constituency,

Syed Shahabuddin Syed Shahabuddin (4 November 1935 – 4 March 2017) was an Indian politician and diplomat from Gaya, Bihar. He began as a diplomat working for the Indian Foreign Service, but later became well known as one of the most articulate Muslim poli ...

and the wife of senior Bihar cadre IAS officer Afzal Amanullah.

Political career

Before entering politics she was known for her activism, especially in regard to her use of the

Right to Information Act, 2005 Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical ...

to bring out the apathy prevalent in government institutions. She was a member of the

Aam Aadmi Party The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP, ) is a List of political parties in India, political party in India. It was founded on 26 November 2012 by Arvind Kejriwal and his then-companions, following the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement against then gover ...

and had unsuccessfully contested the

2014 Indian general election General elections were held in India in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May 2014 to elect the members of the 16th Lok Sabha. With 834 million registered voters, they were the largest-ever elections in the world until being surpassed by the 2019 ...

against the BJP Member of Parliament

Shatrughan Sinha Shatrughan Prasad Sinha (born 15 July 1946) is an Indian actor and politician. He is a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Asansol constituency as a member of All India Trinamool Congress (TMC). Earlier he was elected as Member of Parliament ...

from the

Patna Sahib Lok Sabha constituency Patna Sahib is one of the 543 Lok Sabha, parliamentary constituencies in India. The constituency is located in Patna district in Bihar. Until 2008, there was only one Lok Sabha seat for Patna, capital of Bihar. In the reorganisation effected tha ...

.AAP's Parveen Amanullah to take on Shatrughan Sinha in Patna Sahib
She was elected as a member of the

Bihar Legislative Assembly The Bihar Legislative Assembly, also known as the Bihar Vidhan Sabha, is the lower house of the bicameral Bihar Legislature of the state of Bihar in India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is ...

in 2010 from the Sahebpur Kamal constituency in

Begusarai district Begusarai District is one of the thirty-eight Districts of Bihar, districts of the Indian state of Bihar. The city of Begusarai is its administrative headquarters and is part of the Munger division. History Begusarai was established in 1870 as ...

as a candidate of the

Janata Dal (United) Janata Dal (United) ("People's Party (United)"), abbreviated as JD(U), is a Social democracy, social-democratic and secular List of political parties in India, Indian political party, rooted mainly in East India, eastern and Northeast India, ...

after defeating

Rashtriya Janata Dal The Rashtriya Janata Dal ( RJD; translation: National People's Party) is an Indian political party, mainly based in the state of Bihar. The party was founded in 1997 by Lalu Prasad Yadav. The party's support base has traditionally been Other ...

's Shreenarayan Yadav. She became the Social Welfare minister of Bihar in

Nitish Kumar Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician who has been serving as the 22nd chief minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previously held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. He is Bihar's longest ...

's government and held the portfolio until February 2014 when she resigned from JD(U) citing "governance issues" and "lack of work satisfaction". She joined

Arvind Kejriwal Arvind Kejriwal (; born 16 August 1968) is an Indian politician, activist and former bureaucrat, who served as the 7th Chief Minister of Delhi. He was the chief minister from 2013 to 2014 and from 2015 to 2024. He is also the national conve ...

's Aam Aadmi Party two days later.Bihar minister Parveen Amanullah resigns

References

1958 births 2023 deaths People from Begusarai district Aam Aadmi Party politicians from Bihar Janata Dal (United) politicians Bihar MLAs 2010–2015 Aam Aadmi Party candidates in the 2014 Indian general election {{AAP-politician-stub