Anupriya Patel back as MoS in new-look Team Modi: Who is she?
Anupriya Patel, president of the Apna Dal (Sonelal) party, was on Wednesday inducted into Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new Cabinet.
Patel is a Lok Sabha MP from Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh. She is serving her second term as a parliamentarian.
The 40-year-old belongs to the Kurmi community and had been a minister in the first government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
She has also served as an MLA in Uttar Pradesh.
Prior to beginning her political career, Patel worked as a Professor at Amity University, and has a MBA from Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj University in Kanpur. She married to Ashish Patel, a member of the UP Legislative Council.
Her inclusion in the Modi's team is significant ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections next year and the Lok Sabha polls in 2024 as the Other Backward Classes (OBC) have a sizeable number of voters in the key Purvanchal region.
Her party has been continuously raising its voice in Parliament for resolving the problems of farmers and proper implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations so that they could get a fair price for their produce.
The buzz that she could be accommodated in the Union ministry grew louder after she recently met the BJP brass in New Delhi after staying away from the corridors of power ever since the NDA embarked on its second term in 2019.
Anupriya was a minister of state at the Centre from 2016 to 2019.
This is her second stint in the Union council of ministers.
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