Girija Vyas, who was sworn-in as cabinet minister in the Manmohan Singh government Monday, has a long eventful political career, serving as union minister, Congress's women's wing chief and chairperson of the National Commission for Women (NCW). She is also a prolific poet, having published three volumes of poetry in Hindi, Urdu and English.
Currently the Chittorgarh MP, Vyas, 66 started her political career as head of Congress's Udaipur unit in 1977.
She was elected to the Rajasthan assembly in 1985 and has been a minister in the state.
Elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1991, she was junior minister for information and broadcasting in the P.V. Narasimha Rao government till 1993 after which she became the Mahila Congress chief.
Vyas is currently the chief whip of the Congress in the Lok Sabha.
In 2005, she became NCW chief.
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A doctorate holder, educationist and social worker, Vyas is serving her fourth term as a Lok Sabha MP.
She is fond of listening to ghazals and writing poetry.