| Ajay Maken | |
| Birth Date: | 1964 1, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | New Delhi, India |
| Residence: | New Delhi |
| Order: | Treasurer of |
| Office: | Indian National Congress |
| Term Start: | 1 October 2023 |
| Predecessor: | Pawan Kumar Bansal |
| Office1: | Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha |
| Term Start1: | 4 April 2024 |
| Predecessor1: | L. Hanumanthaiah |
| Office2: | Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation |
| Primeminister2: | Manmohan Singh |
| Term Start2: | 28 October 2012 |
| Term End2: | 15 June 2013 |
| Predecessor2: | Selja Kumari |
| Successor2: | Girija Vyas |
| Office3: | Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs and Sports |
| Term Start3: | May 2011 |
| Term End3: | 28 October 2012 |
| Primeminister3: | Manmohan Singh |
| Predecessor3: | M. S. Gill |
| Successor3: | Jitendra Singh |
| Office4: | Minister of State for Home Affairs |
| Primeminister4: | Manmohan Singh |
| Minister4: | P. Chidambaram |
| Term Start4: | 28 May 2009 |
| Term End4: | May 2011 |
| Office5: | Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha |
| Term Start5: | 13 May 2004 |
| Term End5: | 16 May 2014 |
| Constituency5: | New Delhi |
| Predecessor5: | Jagmohan |
| Successor5: | Meenakshi Lekhi |
| Office6: | Member of Delhi Legislative Assembly |
| Term Start6: | 1993 |
| Term End6: | 2004 |
| Predecessor6: | constituency created |
| Successor6: | Ramesh Lamba |
| Constituency6: | Rajouri Garden |
| Party: | Indian National Congress |
| Alma Mater: | University of Delhi |
| Spouse: | Radhika Maken |
| Children: | 3 |
| Date: | 16 September |
| Year: | 2006 |
| Source: | http://india.gov.in/govt/loksabhampbiodata.php?mpcode=4075 |
Ajay Maken (born 12 January 1964) is a politician from the Indian National Congress party. He is the treasurer of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) and member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC).[1] A three time member of the Parliament of India[2] and three time MLA, Delhi Legislative Assembly, formerly a minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh[3] and a minister in the cabinet of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.
He has been thrice [4] elected as a Member of the Parliament of India, and three times to the Delhi Legislative Assembly. He was the President of Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee.[5]
Maken now a Three time Member Parliament of India, has been a two-time Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha from 2004 to 2014)[6] and is elected for the third time[7] as Member Parliament of India Rajya Sabha in February 2024[7] [8] and has been three-time Member of Legislative Assembly of Delhi (from 1993 to 2004).
At the National level, Maken was the youngest Union Cabinet Minister from the Congress Party for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (2012–13),[9] [10] Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Sports and Youth Affairs (2011–12),[11] Union Minister of State for Home Affairs (2009–2011),[12] Union Minister of State for Urban Development (2006–2007).[13]
At the State level, he was Speaker of Delhi Legislative Assembly (2003–04) [14] at the age of 39, Maken was the youngest Speaker in the Country, a Cabinet Minister of Power, Transport and Tourism (2001-2003) at the age of 37, the youngest until that time and Parliamentary Secretary to the Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit (1998-2001).
Maken was the first NSUI candidate in a direct election to be elected as the President of Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) in 1985,[15] the first B.Sc. Chemistry (Hons.) final year student in this post.[5]
In the 2004 general election, Maken represented the Congress for the New Delhi constituency. He defeated a sitting Cabinet Minister, Jagmohan, from the Bharatiya Janata Party.[16]
In the 2009 general elections, he retained the New Delhi Parliamentary constituency. He was appointed the Minister of State for Home Affairs.
In 2011, Maken was appointed the Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs[17] after the 2010 Commonwealth Games scam, replacing M. S. Gill as Sports Minister.[18]
He was appointed Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (I/C) in 2012.[19]
Maken was defeated in the 2014 general elections by the BJP candidate Meenakshi Lekhi. He served as the Congress General Secretary until 2015, when he resigned after the party's failure to win any seat in the 2015 Delhi Legislative Assembly election.[20]
Ajay Maken is married and has three children. He received his education in St. Xavier's School, Delhi.[21] Lalit Maken, Ajay Maken's uncle, was elected to Lok Sabha in 1984 but was assassinated in 1985 for his alleged role in the massacre of Sikhs in Delhi in November 1984.[22]