My Compelling Story

Does Najma Heptulla smoke?: Yes.Does Najma Heptulla drink?: Yes.Her family is of Arab descent and they claim to be Sayyid.She is a second cousin to actor Aamir Khan.She is also the grand-niece of Indian Independence activist Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.Her husband, Akbarali A. Heptulla played an important role in the formulation of the newspaper Patriot. He died in 2007.In 1980, she joined the Congress; as she was inspired by Indira Gandhi.she is a strong advocate of womens empowerment. She played an effective role at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. In addition, she directed the Indian delegation to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in 1997, and she received a special invitation to the International Womens Leadership Conference at Harvard University, Massachusetts the same year.She has been a member of both Congress and BJP. After being a member of Congress for about three decades, she joined BJP in 2004. As per the reports, she left Congress because she shared a creaky relationship with Congress President Sonia Gandhi. It was also believed that she was associated with BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee and hence joined BJP.She contested the Vice-Presidential elections but lost to Hamid Ansari in 2007 by 233 votes.