Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi appointed Deputy Leader of House in Rajya Sabha

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday appointed Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi as Deputy Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha.

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi informed Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu that the Prime Minister has directed him to inform that Naqvi, Union Minister of Minority Affairs, has been appointed Deputy Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha.

Naqvi succeeds Piyush Goyal, who has been named Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha. The minority affairs minister is known for his knowledge of parliamentary affairs, and has served as minister of state for parliamentary affairs during the first term of the Modi government.

Naqvi hails from Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur and was elected to the Upper House from Jharkhand. He was MoS for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. He joined the BJP in 1986 as a student leader, and emerged as a prominent Muslim face of the party.

The appointment of Naqvi, who is known to have cordial relations with leaders of parties across the political spectrum, assumes significance at a time when the Opposition is aiming to target the ruling dispensation over a host of issues, including handling of the second wave of COVID-19, rise in fuel prices and farmers’ stir.