Saleem Iqbal Shervani

Saleem Iqbal Shervani (born 22 March 1953) is an Indian politician who had been with Indian National Congress for most of his career. He represented Badaun constituency in Uttar Pradesh, in the 8th, 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th Lok Sabhas. A close ally of Rajiv Gandhi,^[1] he was the Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare from 1996 to 1997 and the Union Minister of State for External Affairs from 1997 to 1998 in the government led by the prime minister I.K. Gujral.

Shervani hails from a wealthy Pathan industrialist family of Allahabad. He is the owner of Neoli Sugar factory and president of Krishi Inter College. The Shervani family had a close association with Indira Gandhi. After the death of Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi insisted that he should fight the elections.^[2] Eventually the Badayun constituency was identified for him, and he won several elections there.

In the wake of the Babri Masjid demolition, Salim Sherwani left Congress to join Samajwadi Party. However, in the Indian general election in Uttar Pradesh, 2009, Samajwadi Party denied him a ticket in order to accommodate Mulayam Singh Yadav's nephew Dharmendra Yadav.^[3] Shervani then re-joined the Congress.^[4] He fought the election from Badayun against mafia don DP Yadav (Bahujan Samaj Party) but came third, losing to Dharmendra Yadav by 40 thousand votes.^[5]

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