| Aparupa Poddar | |
| Birth Name: | Aparupa Poddar |
| Birth Date: | 1986 1, df=yes |
| Residence: | 28, Gandhi Sarak, Rishra, Serampore - 712248, West Bengal, India |
| Office1: | Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha |
| Constituency1: | Arambagh |
| Term Start1: | 2014 |
| Term End1: | 2024 |
| Predecessor1: | Sakti Mohan Malik |
| Successor1: | Mitali Bag |
| Spouse: | Mohd. Shakir Ali |
| Children: | 3 |
| Alma Mater: | Hooghly Mohsin College The University of Burdwan (M.A.) Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University, Hyderabad (LL.B) (LL.M) |
Afrin Ali née Aparupa Poddar (born 8 January 1986) is an Indian politician and a member of parliament to the 16th 17th Lok Sabha from Arambagh (Lok Sabha constituency), West Bengal.[1] [2] She won the 2014 & 2019 Indian general election as an All India Trinamool Congress candidate.[3]
The allegations relating to the first controversy, regarding financial corruption, were confirmed to be true on 5 October 2017, when she confessed that she had taken a bribe from Narada News boss Mathew Samuel as part of Narada sting operation.[4]
The allegations regarding the second controversy are regarding her religion. Born into a Hindu family and named Aparupa Poddar at birth, she married a Muslim man. She then stood for election from a parliamentary constituency which is reserved for those belonging to the scheduled castes. The Bharatiya Janata Party lodged a complaint with the Election Commission seeking cancellation of her candidature on the plea that she had converted to Islam and hence she did not belong to a scheduled caste. Aparupa Poddar then claimed, that she had changed her name but not her religion.[5]