Portfolio of Modi government ministers: MJ Akbar appointed MoS External Affairs.
MJ Akbar today took oath as a Minister of State (MoS) in Rashtrapati Bhavan.
MJ Akbar, a former renowned journalist, is a Rajya Sabha MP of BJP. He was a Congress MP from Kishanganj in Bihar between 1989 and 1991. He was also a Congress party spokesperson in 1989 ahead of Lok Sabha polls.
Akbar returned to public life in March 2014, when he joined the BJP as National Spokesperson. In July, 2015 he was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Jharkhand.
An eminent editor and author of several well-received books, including a biography of Jawaharlal Nehru, he debuted in politics in 80s as he came close to the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and wielded considerable influence.
He drifted apart from the party after Gandhi’s death in 1991 and he soon returned to full time journalism.
Though he was critical of Modi, the then Gujarat Chief Minister, following 2002 riots, he gradually came closer to the saffron party as he assailed the Gandhi family over its leadership of Congress.
BJP expects that Akbar will provide it what the party has often lacked — an eloquent English-speaking Muslim voice.