Mobasher Jawed "M. J.' Akbar (born 11 January 1951) is an Indian journalist and politician,[1] who served as the Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs until 17 October, 2018 when he had to step down due to a number of sexual harassment allegations against him from numerous women who had worked with him over the years,[2] and rape by NPR business editor Pallavi Gogoi. He is a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha,[3] from He was inducted into the Union Council of Ministers by PM Narendra Modi on 5 July 2016. He is also a veteran Indian journalist and author of several books. He first served as an elected Member of Parliament between 1989 and 1991, and returned to public life in March 2014, when he joined the BJP and was appointed national spokesperson during the 2014 general elections that brought the party back to office with a simple majority under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi. In July, 2015 he was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Jharkhand. During his long career in journalism, he launched, as editor, India