Udit Raj (born 1 January 1958) is an

Indian politician Politics of India works within the framework of the country's Constitution. India is a parliamentary democratic secular republic in which the president of India is the head of state & first citizen of India and the prime minister of India is ...

and member of

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

. He was a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

between 2014 and 2019 in the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

, representing the

North West Delhi North West Delhi is an administrative district of the National Capital Territory of Delhi in India. Geography North West Delhi is bounded by the Yamuna River on the northeast, and by the districts of North Delhi to the east and southeast, Wes ...

as a member of

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

. Raj is also the National Chairman of the All India Confederation of SC/ST Organizations.

Life and education

Raj was born on 1 January 1958 in Ramnagar, Uttar Pradesh to Kallan and Sukhdei. He completed

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

from Osmaniya University 1988 and received an honorary doctorate in

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

from Bible College and Seminary Kota, Rajasthan in 2003. He married Seem Raj on 24 March 1990, with whom he has a son and a daughter. Raj was selected for the

Indian Revenue Service The Indian Revenue Service (IAST: ), often abbreviated as IRS, is an Indian government agency that is primarily responsible for collecting and administering direct and indirect taxes. As a central civil service under Group A of the executiv ...

in 1988 and served as the Deputy Commissioner, Joint Commissioner and Additional Commissioner of

Income Tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

. On 24 November 2003, he resigned from government service and formed the

Indian Justice Party Indian Justice Party (IJP) was a political party in India that was established by Udit Raj in 2003. He was an Indian Revenue Service officer and had resigned in 2003 to form Indian Justice Party. Merger with Bharatiya Janta Party Udit Raj, ...

. He is also a businessperson and a consultant, apart from being a politician and a social worker.

Political career

Raj joined the BJP on 23 February 2014. In the past he had opposed the BJP, but after getting a BJP ticket for Lok Sabha, he said that it was more sympathetic to the SC and ST communities and declared that the "Dalits have a brighter future in BJP". On being denied a ticket to contest the

2019 Indian general election General elections were held in India in seven phases from 11 April to 19 May 2019 to elect the members of the 17th Lok Sabha. Votes were counted and the result was declared on 23 May. Around 912 million people were eligible to vote, and voter ...

, Raj quit the BJP and joined the Congress, saying that the BJP "is against the interests of Dalits". Raj converted from

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

in 2001.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raj, Udit 1958 births India MPs 2014–2019 University of Allahabad alumni Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Delhi Indian civil rights activists Indian caste leaders Indian Revenue Service officers Living people Lok Sabha members from Delhi People from Allahabad district People from North West Delhi district Dalit politicians Converts to Buddhism from Hinduism Indian Buddhists 21st-century Buddhists Indian former Hindus Indian National Congress politicians