Salman Khurshid

Salman Khurshid (born January 1, 1953) is an Indian politician belonging to the Indian National Congress, a lawyer, and a writer elected from Farrukhabad Lok Sabha constituency. He belongs to Farrukhabad. Presently he is Minister of State of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and Ministry of Minority Affairs. Prior to this he was elected to the 10th Lok Sabha (1991–1996) from the Farrukhabad Lok Sabha constituency, thereafter starting as Union Deputy Minister, Commerce in June 1991, he remained Union Minister of State, External Affairs (Jan. 1993-June 1996). Born in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, he is the son of Khurshed Alam Khan, former Union minister of External affairs, Government of India, and maternal grandson of Dr. Zakir Hussain, the third President of India. He studied at Delhi Public School, Mathura Road, St. Stephen's College, Delhi and St. Edmund Hall, Oxford. He was a Junior Research Fellow and then Lecturer at Trinity College, Oxford. He was an Officer on Special Duty in the Prime Minister's Office, during the Prime Ministership of Mrs. Indira Gandhi, and was the Minister of State for External Affairs in the Government of India from 1991-1996. During this period he was a Member of Parliament from the Farrukhabad constituency in Uttar Pradesh. He has been the President of the Uttar Pradesh Pradesh Congress Committee twice. He was also the President of the Delhi Public School Society and Dr. Zakir Hussain Study Circle. In the Parliamentary (Lok Sabha) Elections 2009, he has won the from the Farrukhabad Lok Sabha constituency of Uttar Pradesh with 169351 votes as a candidate of Indian National Congress. Presently, he is the Minister of State for Corporate Affairs and Minority Affairs (Independent Charge) in the Government of India. He took over as Minister on Friday, 29 May 2009. In 2010, he was instrumental in making the Govt of India introduce the Enemy Property Bill, which gives the pre-partition owners of immovable properties and assets, rights to the properties and assets as against the law from 1968 which handed over the properties to the Govt of India. Salman Khurshid, interestingly was the counsel for the Raja of Mahmudabad, MA Mohammad Khan, who crossed to Pakistan at the time of partition, in the apex court. He also led a delegation of Muslim MPs demanding a larger and wider scope for enemy property claims from across the border