Ram Naik

Ram Naik (born 16 April 1934) is a veteran Indian politician from the BJP, presently the Governor of Uttar Pradesh

Political career

Ram Naik was a member of the 13th Lok Sabha and was Minister of Oil and Natural Gas in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee cabinet (1999-2004). He was instrumental in introducing Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme. He was the BJP candidate for elections to the 14th Lok Sabha representing Mumbai North, but lost to famous Bollywood actor Govinda, a INC candidate from Virar.

A Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh volunteer since childhood, he holds a law degree. He started his political career with the Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1964 and was involved in organizing a group of rail commuters in Mumbai. He represented Borivli in the state assembly in 1978 and was re-elected twice, before becoming Minister of State for Railways in 1998, when he was influential in forming the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation.

Ram Naik announced in September 2013 that he will not contest the 2014 Lok Sabha Polls. On 14 July 2014 he was named as the Governor of Uttar Pradesh.

Zakir Naik

Zakir Naik (born 18 October 1965 in Mumbai, India) is an Indian Islamic preacher, who has been called an "authority on comparative religion", "perhaps the most influential Salafi ideologue in India", and "the world's leading Salafi evangelist". He is the founder and president of the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), and founder of the "comparative religion" Peace TV channel, through which he reaches a reported 100 million viewers. Unlike many Islamic preachers, his lectures are colloquial, given in English not Urdu or Arabic, and he wears a suit and tie rather than traditional garb.

Before becoming a public speaker, he trained as a medical doctor. He has published booklet versions of lectures on Islam and comparative religion. Although he has publicly disclaimed sectarianism in Islam, he is regarded by some as an exponent of the Salafi ideology, and, by some, as a radical Islamic televangelist propagating Wahhabism.

Biography

Zakir Naik was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. He attended Kishinchand Chellaram College and studied medicine at Topiwala National Medical College and Nair Hospital and later the University of Mumbai, where he obtained a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBBS).