Meenakshi Lekhi Wiki, Age, Husband, Family, Caste, Biography

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Meenakshi Lekhi is an Indian politician and lawyer. She is the Member of Parliament from New Delhi Constituency and the national spokesperson of Bhartiya Janata Party. She is also the Vice President of BJP Mahila Morcha.

Wiki/Biography

Meenakshi Lekhi was born on 30 April 1967 (52 years; as in 2019) in New Delhi. Her zodiac sign is Taurus. She graduated in B.SC (Botany) from Delhi University’s Hindu College and joined the Campus Law Centre-I to pursue her LLB Degree. After completing her LLB, Lekhi registered herself with the Delhi-Bar Council in 1990.

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 5′ 4″

Weight (approx.): 70 Kg

Hair Colour: Black

Eye Colour: Black

Family, Caste & Husband

Meenakshi Lekhi belongs to a Hindu Family. She is the daughter of Bhagwan Khanna and Amarlata Khanna. Meenakshi got married to Aman Lekhi on 11 April 1992. Her husband is an Additional Solicitor General of the Supreme Court. The couple has two sons, Pranay Lekhi, and Anirudh Nath Lekhi.

Meenakshi Lekhi’s husband, Aman Lekhi

Meenakshi Lekhi’s husband, Aman Lekhi with her sons, Anirudh Nath Lekhi and Pranay Lekhi

Her father-in-law, Pran Nath Lekhi, was one of the leading lawyers of the Supreme Court of India. Her, mother-in-law’s name is Kamla Lekhi.

Meenakshi Lekhi’s father-in-law, Pran Nath Lekhi

Meenakshi Lekhi’s husband, Aman Lekhi and mother-in-law, Kamla Lekhi

Legal Career

Meenakshi started her career as a Lawyer in the year 1990. She started practising in various tribunals, Delhi High Court and Supreme Court. Lekhi has argued a variety of issues pertaining to women including family law disputes, domestic violence, and issues related to the permanent commission of the lady officers in the armed forces. She has also handled matters like bails, trials, revisions, appeals, criminal writs, and the Prevention of Corruption Act/Customs Act/FERA prosecutions. Meenakshi has been a member of the Drafting Committees for bills like “Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Bill” and “Women’s Reservation Bill.” She has also represented the victim in the Shanti Mukund Hospital rape case.

Meenakshi Lekhi outside the Supreme court

Political Career

Meenakshi Lekhi started her political career in 2010 when she became the National Vice President of ‘BJP Mahila Morcha.’ In May 2014, she got elected to the 16th Lok Sabha from New Delhi Constituency after defeating Ajay Maken by a margin of 2.7 lakh votes. On 12 June 2014, she got elected as the Member of the House Committee. She has also been a member of the Standing Committee on Urban Development. On 20 July 2016, Lekhi held the position of the Chairperson of the Committee on Privileges. In July 2017, she was awarded the “Best Debut Woman Parliamentarian” award at the ‘Lokmat Parliamentary Awards.’ In the same year, she became the Member of the Press Council of India. In December 2017, during a discussion on Triple Talaq bill in the Parliament, Lekhi demanded stern punishment for religious leaders supporting and facilitating the process of talaq-i-biddat (Tripple Talaq).In the 16th Lok Sabha, Meenakshi has participated in around 125 debates, asked 435 questions, and introduced 20 private member bills in the Lok Sabha (till final Budget Session, 2019).

Controversies

Meenakshi attracted controversy when she allegedly revealed the name of the victim through her tweet in Tarun Tejpal rape case. However, she, later, clarified that the tweet was not done by her but someone misused her phone to do so.

She was also condemned for driving a jeep without fastening its seat belt when she went to file her nomination for the elections.

Lekhi again attracted controversy over her sexist slandering of Ishrat Jahan in a television debate. Several women signed a letter asking Lekhi to apologise for her comments and sent the letter to the National Commission for Women.

In 2015, Lekhi entered into a war of words with the actress Dia Mirza over RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remark on Mother Teresa. While Lekhi supported Bhagwat’s remark and claimed that Mother Teresa admitted in an interview that her aim was to bring people to the fold of Christianity, Mirza, whose father was a Catholic, slammed the leader.

On 12 April 2009, Meenakshi filed a contempt petition in Supreme Court against Rahul Gandhi for using the words “Chowkidar Chor Hai” against Narendra Modi and misinterpreting the Supreme Court’s dismissal in the Rafale deal.

Assets/Properties

Meenakshi owns movable assets worth ₹7 crore approximately while she holds an immovable property worth ₹27.9 crore. She also possesses 1170 gm of gold worth ₹32 lakh and 390 hm of Polki valued at ₹13 lakh.

Her hobbies include reading and travelling.

Lekhi is one of the most active members of the parliament. Her overall attendance in the parliament for the session 2019 has been 95%.

She resides at C-98A, South Extension, Part-II, New Delhi.

Her father-in-law, Pran Nath Lekhi, is well known for handling the case of Satwant Singh, the murderer of Zahira Sheikh, and Indira Gandhi, who was one of the culprits of the 2002 Gujarat violence.

As a member of NDMC, Lekhi has got the name of the Dalhousie Road in New Delhi changed to Dara Shikoh Road. She has also played a prominent role in getting the name of the Race Course Road (the Delhi road adjacent to the Indian Prime Minister’s residence) changed to Lok Kalyan Marg. Thus it changed the address of PM’s residence from “7, RCR” to “7, LKM.”

Lekhi has topped the charts in terms of utilising the MPLAD funds among the 7 MPs of Delhi. She utilised Rs 2.50 crore out of Rs 5 crore released by the government in the very first year of her term.

Besides being a lawyer and a politician, she has also been a social activist. Meenakshi has been associated with various institutions like Sakshi, National Commission for Women, and NIPCD which are working for the protection of the rights of women and children in India.