Cabinet expansion: Who is Anupriya Patel, one of the seven women who took oath?

Anupriya Patel, president of the Apna Dal (Sonelal) party, took oath as part of the expansion of the Council of Ministers under the Narendra Modi-led NDA government on Wednesday. Patel is one of the seven women to take oath today. A member of parliament from Uttar Pradesh’s Mirzapur, Patel’s party is currently in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The 40-year-old is serving her second term as a Lok Sabha member and has earlier served as the Union Minister of State for Health during the first term of the NDA government.

She began her political career with the Apna Dal, a party formed in 1995 by her father, late Sonelal Patel, a popular leader among Kurmis, a backward caste with a presence in eastern UP and Bundelkhand.

However, ahead of the 2017 Assembly elections, Anupriya formed Apna Dal (S) after a dispute with her mother, who led the parent party. It claims to enjoy the support of Kurmis as well as non-Yadav OBC groups such as Kushwaha, Maurya, Nishad, Pal and Saini in UP.

The breakaway party continued the alliance with the BJP and in the 2017 Assembly elections, it contested 11 seats and won 9.

Before her political career, Anupriya worked as a Professor at Amity University, and has an MBA from Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj University, Kanpur. She’s married to Ashish Patel, a member of the UP Legislative Council.