Nupur Sharma
Nupur Sharma | |
|---|---|
| National Spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party | |
| In office 2020–2022 | |
| President | J. P. Nadda |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 23 April 1985[1] New Delhi, India[2] |
| Political party | Bharatiya Janata Party (2005–2022) |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Lawyer, politician |
Nupur Sharma (born 23 April 1985) is an Indian politician and lawyer. She was the national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) until June 2022,[3] when she was suspended from the party due to her comments about the Islamic prophet Muhammad.[4][5]
Biography
Nupur Sharma was born in Delhi in 1985.[2][1] She comes from an educated family, many of whose members are civil servants. Her mother is from Dehradun.[6]
Sharma joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Sangh Parivar, as a student of Delhi University. She won the presidentship of the students union in 2008. A notable incident during her stint was the leading of an ABVP mob to heckle S. A. R. Geelani in a faculty seminar on 'Communalism, Fascism and Democracy: Rhetoric and Reality'. She appeared on a television show later that night and gave brash responses.[7][3] She graduated from the Hindu College at Delhi University with at Bachelor of Arts in economics and she later completed her Bachelor of Laws at Delhi University.[1]
After receiving a Master of Laws degree at the London School of Economics, Sharma became a lawyer.[8]
She also became a worker of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and is said to have worked with senior leaders like Arvind Pradhan, Arun Jaitley and Amit Shah. In 2015, at age 30, she was given the ticket for contesting against Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Admi Party (AAP) in the 2015 Delhi Legislative Assembly election.[6][9][10] She lost the contest by 31,000 votes.[11]
Afterwards, she was appointed as an official spokesperson for the BJP's Delhi unit under Manoj Tiwari. In 2020, she was appointed as a national spokesperson of BJP under the presidentship of J. P. Nadda. According to a Delhi BJP leader, even when she was part of the Delhi unit, she was often sent out for TV debates on national issues because of her legal acumen, sound knowledge of national issues and bilingual skills.[3] She was seen as young, energetic and brash, with regular appearances on television debates.[7]
Comments on Prophet Muhammad
On 27 May 2022, Sharma participated in a debate on the Gyanvapi Mosque dispute on the Times Now television channel, during which she made controversial remarks regarding Muhammad and the age of one of his wives, Aisha, noting that Aisha was 6-years-old when married, and 9 when the marriage was consummated.[12] The remarks caused a controversy in the Muslim world.[13] On June 5, Sharma published an apology on Twitter after being suspended from the BJP.[14]
References
- ^ a b c "Who is Nupur Sharma". Business Standard. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
- ^ a b "Nupur Sharma: Biography", OneIndia, retrieved 6 June 2022
- ^ a b c Abhinav Rajput (5 June 2022), "Nupur Sharma: The BJP firebrand facing party axe", The Indian Express
- ^ "After 'respect all religions' statement, BJP suspends spokespersons Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal", The Indian Express, 5 June 2022
- ^ "Nupur Sharma suspended from BJP for her comments about Prophet Muhammad", Scroll.in, retrieved 6 June 2022
- ^ a b "Kejriwal rival Nupur Sharma has Dehradun roots", Dehradun Post, 29 January 2015, ProQuest 1648819349
- ^ a b "Nupur Sharma: impressive past, promising future". Business Line. New Delhi. 24 January 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
Combative, ambitious and action-oriented — meet Nupur Sharma, the BJP's candidate against AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal from the New Delhi Assembly constituency.
- ^ "Nupur Sharma, suspended Spokesperson of BJP, did her Master in Law from this UK University", The Free Press Journal, 5 June 2022
- ^ Amita Shah (21 January 2015), "At 30, will Nupur Sharma be a giant killer?: BJP has fielded former DU student leader Nupur Sharma against AAP chief Kejriwal from New Delhi seat", Daily News & Analysis, ProQuest 1646878018
- ^ "Meet BJP's New Delhi candidate Nupur Sharma: The girl who plans to take on Kejriwal". Firstpost. 21 January 2015.
- ^ "Arvind Kejriwal defeats BJP's Nupur Sharma by over 31,000 votes". Livemint. 10 February 2015.
- ^ "BJP's Nupur Sharma booked over remark on Prophet Mohammed". The Siasat Daily. 29 May 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
- ^ "Muslim nations slam India over insulting remarks about Islam". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
- ^ "India's ruling party suspends official over comments about Islam", CNN, 6 June 2022