Kiren Rijiju (born 19 November 1971) is an Indian politician serving as 28th Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and 7th Minister of Minority Affairs since 2024. He was the Cabinet Minister of Earth Sciences and Food Processing Industries in the Government of India since 2023 till June 2024 and a member of the parliament in Lok Sabha from Arunachal West since 2014 and from 2004 to 2009. Earlier, he served as the Minister of State for Home Affairs from 2014 to 2019, Minister of State for Minorit
Kiren Rijiju is a three time MP in Lok Sabha from Arunachal Pradesh (2004, 2014, and 2024). He has served as minister of state (MoS) (independent charge) youth affairs and sports, MoS minority affairs, MoS home affairs, and Minister of Law and Justice. His tenure as Law Minister was marked by controversies. On 18 May 2023, he was assigned the portfolio of Ministry of Earth Sciences.[8] On 10 June 2024, he was appointed as the Union Cabinet Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs in the Government of India. He is one of the three Buddhist MPs in the 18th Lok Sabha.[9]
Controversies
In 2022, Kiren called the collegium system of appointment of judges in Indian judicial system as "opaque", implying that appointments are done on personal associations rather than merit. He also advocated for government's role in the appointment of judges, writing to the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud. His comments on judiciary and collegium system were widely criticised by the legal community and the Supreme Court.[8][10]
In March 2023, Kiren accused some retired judges to be a part of "Anti-India gang".[11] A group of former civil servants from the Constitutional Conduct Group responded by claiming Rijiju's comments a sign of "authoritarianism".
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