Meenakshi Lekhi

Meenakshi Lekhi
Member of the India Parliament
for New Delhi
Assumed office
27 May 2014
Preceded by Ajay Maken
Majority 1,62,708 (16.77%)
Personal details
Born (1967-04-30) 30 April 1967
New Delhi
Political party Bharatiya Janata Party
Alma mater Hindu College, University of Delhi
Occupation Lawyer

Meenakshi Lekhi (born 30 April 1967) is an Indian Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from New Delhi constituency.[1] She is the national spokesperson of Bharatiya Janata Party[2] and a Supreme Court of India lawyer. Meenakshi Lekhi won the high profile New Delhi parliamentary constituency with over 4.5 lakh votes as a BJP candidate in the 2014 elections.[3] Besides numerous articles in journals, periodicals and newspapers on social issues, she participates in various television shows on matters on national and international importance. Lekhi writes Forthwrite, a fortnightly column in The Week magazine.

Early life

After completing B.Sc. in Botany from Hindu College, Delhi,[4] Meenakshi Lekhi joined Campus Law Centre-I, Delhi University for her LLB. She enrolled with the Bar Council of Delhi in 1990, and started practising at the Supreme Court of India, Delhi High Court, and several other courts, tribunals and forums in different parts of the country.

Legal career

Meenakshi Lekhi has argued a wide variety of matters in Indian courts such as bails, revisions, trials, appeals, criminal writs, murder references, Prevention of Corruption Act/Official Secrets Act/Customs Act/FERA prosecutions, domestic violence and family law disputes. She has been a part of the Drafting Committees for Bills like 'Women's Reservation Bill' and 'Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Bill'. The latter was passed by the Parliament as an Act in 2013.

Meenakshi Lekhi represented the media in court to get the ban on media coverage of case proceedings revoked. She was successful in this effort.[5] She took up the case of permanent commissioning of women in the Indian armed forces in the Supreme Court.[6] Meenakshi Lekhi was also the lawyer of the victim in the Shanti Mukund Hospital rape case.[7]

Social Work

Meenakshi Lekhi has been a member of the National Commission for Women's special committee, Chairperson of the Special Task Force on Women Empowerment, Vice Chairperson of JPM, Blind School (New Delhi) and Joint Secretary of the Blind Relief Association, Delhi.

Work as a Member of Parliament

Meenakshi Lekhi contested elections from the coveted New Delhi parliamentary constituency in the General Elections 2014 and defeated incumbent Ajay Maken by a wide margin of 2.7 lakh votes.[8] She is currently the Presiding Officer of New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC).[9] She is the ex-officio Chairperson of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (India chapter) and has been nominated as a member of the Press Council of India by the Lok Sabha Speaker.[10] As a Member of Parliament, she is currently an active member of the Standing Committee on Urban Development, Committee of Privileges, Consultative Committee of Commerce and Committee of Housing.[11]

On 28 Aug 2015, Ministry of Urban Development & NDMC approved the renaming of Aurangzeb Road as Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Road.[12] Mrs. Lekhi has been a Chairperson of NDMC between Jan 2014 - Jan 2015 [13] & as MP from New Delhi (Lok Sabha constituency), is automatically a member of the council. In both her roles at the council, she had been foremost in renaming of the road in honour of India's "Missile Man" & one of the most loved Presidents of India, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. She was supported by other BJP MPs & Apna Dal MP, Anupriya Patel.[14]

Constituency

  1. Inaugurated Underground Water Reservoir facility at Kirti Nagar. Capacity of 20.9 mn litres and will benefit 1.5 lakh people.
  2. Four mobile toilets set up in Delhi Cantonment benefitting thousands of people in slum clusters
  3. Inaugurated 2 toilet blocks (17 units) at Kali Bari
  4. Inauguration of toilet facilities at Coolie Camp, Vasant Vihar
  5. Ensured proper functioning of drainage system in Sector 4, RK Puram showing improvement in 2 months time
  6. Resolved long-standing sewage block issue in Zamaradpur village, GK
  1. Inaugurated energy efficient street lights in Vasant Vihar in July 2014.
  2. Launched ‘Zero Waste’ project with NDMC to convert green waste to bio-sticks fuel at 2 tons per day per unit
  1. Launched a mobile phone app for the safety of women called 'Raksha' (literally meaning 'protection'). The app sends out a distress signal to a select group of contacts in case of emergencies and is programmed to do so with mapping technology, even when the phone is switched off.[15]
  2. In July 2014, she also launched the 'Constituency Connect' app for Delhi citizens who can use it to connect with their local MPs and register their complaints and feedback.[16]
  3. Installed CCTV cameras at Raja Bazaar, Gole Market, initiated by Central Government Employees RWA
  4. Free WiFi service launched at New Delhi railway station benefitting nearly 3 lakh passengers a day and at Connaught place in collaboration with NDMC and Tata.

Speeches in Lok Sabha

Controversies

Massive row erupted over Meenakshi Lekhi's tweet which allegedly revealed Tejpal rape vicitm's name. Dismissing the tweet completely, Meenakshi Lekhi claims that her phone was misused. But, the Congress has renewed its attack, demanding punishment for the BJP leader.[17] In March 2014, Meenakshi created another controversy when she drove a Jeep to file her nominations but without wearing a seat belt.[18][19] In July 2013, over 115 women signed a letter seeking an apology from Ms. Lekhi for her sexist slandering of deceased Ishrat Jahan in a television channel. The letter has also been sent to the Chairperson of the National Commission for Women for appropriate action.[20]

Her father-in-law, Late Pran Nath Lekhi, was one of India's leading lawyers, who primarily practised at the Supreme Court of India and the Delhi High Court. Like his son Aman Lekhi, Prem Nath had not joined any political party. However, his attempt in institutionalizing Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the judiciary is widely recognized in legal circles. He is also known for fighting the case of Satwant Singh, the man who had killed Indira Gandhi. Prem Nath Lekhi was the lawyer of Zahira Sheikh in the Best Bakery case, one of the many victims of the 2002 Gujarat violence.

References

  1. ↑ Modi’s Four Favourite Women
  2. ↑ http://www.bjp.org/organisation/office-bearers
  3. ↑ Election Commission of India http://eciresults.ap.nic.in/ConstituencywiseU054.htm?ac=4
  4. ↑ "The argumentative Indians".
  5. ↑ http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/22/court-opens-delhi-gang-rape-trial-to-press/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0
  6. ↑ http://www.stratpost.com/supreme-court-takes-up-women-ex-army-officers-plea
  7. ↑ http://www.thehoot.org/web/home/searchdetail.php?sid=1585&bg=1
  8. ↑ New Delhi (Lok Sabha constituency)#16th Lok Sabha: 2014 General Elections
  9. ↑ http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/meenakshi-lekhi-takes-oath-as-ndmc-member/article6133731.ece
  10. ↑ http://www.outlookindia.com/news/article/Rudy-Lekhi-Hari-Nominated-to-Press-Council/858292
  11. ↑ http://164.100.47.134/committee/Committee_Home_Page.aspx
  12. ↑ https://twitter.com/M_Lekhi/status/637230836350218240
  13. ↑ http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/new-delhi-mp-meenakshi-lekhi-named-ndmc-chairperson/
  14. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6ipsZWVeQo&feature=youtu.be
  15. ↑ http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/bjp-launches-raksha-app-to-aid-women-security/articleshow/32020986.cms
  16. ↑ http://news.oneindia.in/feature/bjp-launches-constituency-connect-an-app-connect-you-your-m-1492234.html
  17. ↑ http://www.timesnow.tv/videoshow/4442801.cms
  18. ↑ http://www.abplive.in/india/2014/03/21/article281284.ece/BJP-candidate-Meenakshi-Lekhi-drives-to-nomination-without-seat-belt
  19. ↑ http://www.delhincr.amarujala.com/news/delhi-news-ncr/nomination-filing-meenakshi-lekhi-without-seat-belt/
  20. ↑ http://kafila.org/2013/07/05/women-condemn-meenakshi-lekhis-sexist-slandering-of-ishrat-jahan/

External links

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