Zafar Ali Naqvi (born 24 April 1948) is an Indian politician and former

Member of parliament, Lok Sabha A Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha ( abbreviated: MP) is the representative of a legislative constituency in the Lok Sabha; the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of parliament of Lok Sabha are chosen by direct elections ...

, from

Lakhimpur Kheri Lakhimpur Kheri district is the largest Districts of Uttar Pradesh, district in Uttar Pradesh, India, on the border with Nepal. Its administrative capital is the city of Lakhimpur, Uttar Pradesh, Lakhimpur. Lakhimpur Kheri district is a part o ...

constituency. His political party is the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

. He was also cabinet minister for Home and Environment in U.P. Government.

Biography

Early life

Zafar is a member of the Naqvi family, one of the richest and most prominent families in Lakhimpur.

Education and early career

Zafar Ali Naqvi has done his schooling from Sitapur and attended the

University of Lucknow University of Lucknow (informally known as Lucknow University, and LU) is one of the oldest public state university based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. LU's main campus is located at Badshah Bagh, University Road area of the city with a second ...

and holds the degrees

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(B.A.) and

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

(LL.B). Previously he has represented Lakhimpur Assembly Constituency, twice, in 1980 and 1989.

Political career

Zafar Ali Naqvi is the Chairman of Standing Committee of National Monitoring Committee for Minorities Education. He has previously held the responsibilities of Chairman of Minorities Commission,

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

. Zafar is a former Home Minister of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

. In the 2009 Parliamentary Elections, he has closely defeated Iliyas Azmi of

Bahujan Samaj Party The Bahujan Samaj Party ( BSP) is a political party in India that was formed to represent Bahujans (literally means "community in majority"), referring to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes (OBC), along with Religious ...

, with a margin of 8,780 securing a total of votes. He was a prominent figure in a high-profile Congress campaign in Uttar Pradesh for the Indian general election, 2009. Congress won 21 seats in Uttar Pradesh mainly because of the efforts of

Rahul Gandhi Rahul Rajiv Gandhi (; born 19 June 1970) is an Indian politician. A member of the Indian National Congress (INC), he is currently serving as the 12th leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha and as the member of the Lok Sabha for Rae Bareli Lok ...

and

Priyanka Gandhi Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (''née'' Gandhi; born 12 January 1972) is an Indian politician who is serving as the member of the Lok Sabha for Wayanad, Kerala, since November 2024. A member of the Indian National Congress, she is also serving as a ge ...

in the state. The election saw the

become the majority stake holder in Parliament. Senior Congress leaders such as

Sonia Gandhi Sonia Gandhi (, ; ; born 9 December 1946) is an Indian politician. She is the longest-serving president of the Indian National Congress, a big-tent liberal political party, which has governed India for most of its post-independence history. ...

, Digvijay Singh have raised calls for Zafar Ali Naqvi to be the candidate in 2009 elections. His supporters claim that Zafar's promise of getting the

Meter gauge Metre-gauge railways ( US: meter-gauge railways) are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. Metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by several European colonial powers including France, Britain and ...

railway track of the district converted to

Broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , more known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union countries ...

was delivered in mere 22 months of his becoming the MP. But the fact remains that the conversion of the gauge started after Narendra Modi became the PM and started the conversion of the gauge everywhere in India. The work is still not complete as of March 2019.

Personal life

Zafar's spouse, Shahnaz Naqvi is from

Kanpur Kanpur (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), originally named Kanhapur and formerly anglicized as Cawnpore, is the second largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh after Lucknow. It was the primary ...

. He has two sons- elder son Monis is a pilot and younger son Saif Ali Naqvi is a politician of INC. He has been the life member of International Film And Television Club of

Asian Academy of Film & Television Noida Film City is a film city consisting a complex of studios and structures for filming located in Sector 16-A of Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. It houses the Asian Academy of Film, Television and Marwah Films and Video Studios along with prom ...

References

Member of Parliament

2009 LokSabha Candidates' Affidavit Data

Amar Ujala - Today is Zafar Naqvi's day

Jamia Hamdard Jamia Hamdard is an institute of higher education deemed to be university located in Delhi, India. Founded in 1963 as Hamdard Tibbi College by Hakim Abdul Hameed, it was given the status of deemed to be university in 1989. Its origins can be ...

, New Delhi
Lakhimpur, General Elections 2009

Updated Election Results Details of Kheri

Inshallah! Muslim quota in IITs, IIMs-India-The Times of India

Minorities complain against police-Delhi-Cities-The Times of India

Congress fields Dasai Choudhary against LJP chief Ramvilas Paswan-The Times of India

External links

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLQzPhT7BjY
UP-Muslim-MPs-prefer-settlement
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naqvi, Zafar Ali Living people Indian National Congress politicians from Uttar Pradesh People from Lakhimpur Kheri India MPs 2009–2014 Indian Shia Muslims University of Lucknow alumni 1948 births Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad alumni Lok Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh United Progressive Alliance candidates in the 2014 Indian general election