Honorable Members of Board of Patron in Chief

A former Indian Foreign Service Diplomat and a leader of the Indian National Congress Party. He served as the Union Cabinet Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Panchayati Raj in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Cabinet.   He was born in Laxmi Mansions, Lahore in British India.   Mr. Aiyar studied Economics at Trinity Hall, Cambridge at the University of Cambridge. He was a member of Trinity Hall and was an active member of the Marxist Society in Cambridge. At Cambridge, he contested presidential contest. Rajiv Gandhi, who was his junior both at Doon and Cambridge, supported him in his campaign.   He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1963 and served as Joint Secretary to the Government of India. He was posted as a diplomat, serving as India's first consul general in Karachi from 1978- 1982.   He was elected at the 10th LokSabha, 13th LokSabha, and 14th LokSabha in 1991, 1999, 2004 respectively from the Mayiladuthurai constituency of Tamil Nadu.   He is also a well-known political columnist and has published several books, including Remembering Rajiv, One Year in Parliament, Pakistan Papers, and Knickerwallahs, and has also edited the four-volume publication "Rajiv Gandhi's India". His latest book, "Confessions of a Secular Fundamentalist" was published by Penguin.