Meenakshi Lekhi (born 30 April 1967) is an Indian lawyer and politician of the Bharatiya Janata Party. A Supreme Court advocate who became one of her party’s most recognisable spokespersons on television, she represented the New Delhi constituency in the Lok Sabha from 2014 to 2024 and was Minister of State for External Affairs and for Culture from 2021 to 2024.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Meenakshi Lekhi |
| Born | 30 April 1967, New Delhi, India |
| Age | 59 |
| Profession | Lawyer, politician |
| Party | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Offices held | Member of Parliament, New Delhi (2014–2024); Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture (2021–2024) |
| Education | Hindu College, Delhi (B.Sc. Botany); Campus Law Centre, University of Delhi (LL.B.) |
| Spouse | Aman Lekhi |
| Children | 2 sons |
Early Life
Lekhi was born and brought up in Delhi. She took a degree in botany at Hindu College and then studied law at the Campus Law Centre of the University of Delhi, graduating in 1990. She enrolled with the Delhi Bar Council the same year.
Legal Career
She practised in the Supreme Court, the Delhi High Court and various tribunals. Much of her work concerned women’s rights: she appeared in the litigation that led to permanent commissions for women officers in the armed forces, represented victims in cases of sexual violence, and during the trial that followed the Delhi gang rape of December 2012 argued for the media’s right to report the proceedings. She served on a special committee of the National Commission for Women and on bodies that helped draft legislation on domestic violence and sexual harassment at the workplace.
Political Career
She came to the BJP through her association with the Swadeshi Jagran Manch and joined the party’s women’s wing, the Mahila Morcha, as a national vice-president in 2010. In 2013 she was made a national spokesperson, and her forceful appearances in English and Hindi television debates made her widely known.
In 2014 she won the New Delhi seat, defeating the sitting member Ajay Maken, and she retained it in 2019. In the Lok Sabha she chaired the Committee of Privileges and later the Joint Committee on the Personal Data Protection Bill, whose report was presented in 2021. In 2019 she filed the contempt petition in the Supreme Court against Rahul Gandhi for attributing a political slogan to the court; he tendered an apology and the case was closed. She was also a member of the New Delhi Municipal Council.
In July 2021 she was appointed Minister of State for External Affairs and for Culture. She travelled widely in Latin America, Africa and the Pacific, regions rarely visited by Indian ministers, and was involved in the cultural programmes around India’s G20 presidency in 2023. The party did not field her in the 2024 general election, giving the New Delhi seat to Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of Sushma Swaraj.
Personal Life
She is married to Aman Lekhi, a senior advocate who has served as Additional Solicitor General of India; his father, P. N. Lekhi, was a noted lawyer. They have two sons. She has written columns for newspapers and magazines and published a novel, The New Delhi Conspiracy, in 2019.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Meenakshi Lekhi born?
Meenakshi Lekhi was born on 30 April 1967 in New Delhi, India and is 59 years old.
Featured image: Meenakshi Lekhi speaking at an event in December 2014. Photo by Qwsxza123890, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
