Rashid Kidwai is a renowned Indian journalist. He is a well-known author, columnist and political analyst. He has appeared on various popular Indian news channels including News 18, Times Now, ABP News and NDTV. Rashid Kidwai particularly tracks news related to the Indian government and its political parties, communal affairs and Hindi films. He has also kept a record of the Indian National Congress, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.
Wiki/Biography
Rashid Kidwai was born on Thursday, July 20, 1967 (54 years old in 2021) and his birthplace is Lucknow. His zodiac sign is Cancer. In 1980, he received his education at Centenary School, Lucknow. In 1984, he shifted and started studying at the Anglo-Arabic School, Delhi. In 1986, he enrolled at Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan, New Delhi. In 1989, he obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in St. Stephen’s College, Delhi. Later, he pursued his Masters in Mass Communication Studies at the University of Leicester, United Kingdom. Soon after completing his Masters, he was awarded a scholarship scheme by the British and Commonwealth Office.
appearance
Height (approximate): 5′ 6″
Hair color: gray and white
Eye color: Black
family
Rasheed Kidwai belongs to a family from Dariyabad town in Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh.
Parents and siblings
His grandfather’s name was Maulana Abdul Majid Dayabadi. He was a famous commentator on the Quran in English and Urdu. The names of his parents are unknown.
Wife and children
His wife’s name is Dr. Farah Kidwai. She is a scientist with the Ministry of Defence “G” DRDO, Government of India.
Profession
Rashid Kidwai was previously the deputy editor of The Daily Telegraph, Kolkata. Kidwai is a regular participant in several television, radio programmes and newspapers. He regularly contributes articles and pieces to various print and broadcast media including Mumbai Mirror, The Print, Chandigarh Tribune, ABP News Blog, Network 18, Inquilab, Prabhat Khabar, Rediff, The Quint, Dainik Jagran and Amar Ujala.
Gehlot vs Pilot: Will Sachin Pilot be happy to see his supporters adjusted? Does Punjab’s strength mean an advantage for Pilot? Watch the debate. #IT VideoFull video of the debate @ShivAroor – https://t.co/thXXI1jffe (@TomVadakkan2, @rasheedkidwai, @rohanrgupta） pic.twitter.com/iwMLOC2zd1
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) July 25, 2021
Biography
In 2003, Rashid Kidwai published the English version of Sonia – A Biography. Later, the book was translated into Hindi, Telugu, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil. Revised editions of the book were released again in 2009 and 2011. In 2011, the book 24 Akbar Road briefly profiled the people who are considered to be the reason for the rise and fall of the Indian National Congress government. 
In 2018, Kidwai’s book Neta Abhineta traced the political journeys of several Indian Bollywood actors, including Prithviraj Kapoor, Nargis, Sunil Dutt, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Rekha, Mithun Chakraborty, Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Govinda, Shatrughan Sinha, Rajesh Khanna, Vinod Khanna, Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar, Jaya Prada, Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Paresh Rawal and Raj Babbar.
In the same year, he tracked the electoral process in India in his book Ballots: Ten Events That Shaped Indian Democracy, focusing on politicians such as NT Rama Rao, Bal Thackeray, Mayawati and Mamata Banerjee.
His major works also include the book House of Scindias – A Saga of Power, Politics and Conspiracy. 
book
- What issues are facing Congress?
- The Complex Narrative of Ghazwa-e-Hind
- COVID-19 and Indian Muslims
- Why we need a special law to curb mob lynchings
- Sachin Pilot and his cohorts would become the 49th party to break away from the Congress, but only 16 parties would survive.
Facts/Trivia
- Rasheed Kidwai is a visiting scholar at the Observer Research Foundation, Delhi.
- Rasheed Kidwai has been working as a columnist for several English, Hindi and Urdu newspapers and online portals.
- He is particularly good at writing biographies and memoirs. English, Hindi and Urdu are his main languages.
- In his book Neta – Abhineta, Rasheed Kidwai traces the life of Raj Kapoor and Indira Gandhi. Kidwai explains an interesting fact in the book,
Apparently, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was so impressed by the Kapoors that she wanted Rajiv to marry Rajiv Kapoor’s eldest daughter Ritu. This was not because she was star-struck but because the Kapoors had made a significant contribution to “cultural diplomacy” and Prithviraj Kapoor had played an exemplary role as a nominated MP. Nehru was surprised when he met Stalin during his trip to Russia because one of the questions he asked was about Raj Kapoor and Avala.
Another interesting story in the book is about Indian film actress Nargis and Congressman Khushwant Singh.
Nargis asked fellow Rajya Sabha MP Khushwant Singh to let her stay at his home in Kasauli while sending her son Sanjay Dutt to Lawrence School in Sonawar. He agreed, and later, when someone tried to introduce them, Nargis allegedly said, “I slept in his bed!”
In the same book he wrote about Jawaharlal Nehru,
Whenever Jawaharlal Nehru was impressed by a film or play that was screened for him, he would invite them to the Teen Murti Theatre, but this also brought other complications. For example, when Nehru invited Prithviraj Kapoor to his house for dinner, he declined because the rest of the crew had not been invited. Nehru took notice of this and soon all 60 of them were at the Teen Murti Theatre.
- Rashid Kidwai writes in his book The Scindias: A Saga of Power, Politics and Intrigue that Sonia Gandhi’s original choice for the UPA government was Madhavrao Scindia, not Dr. Manmohan Singh, but Scindia died in a plane crash on September 30, 2001. He writes:
89-year-old diplomat-turned-politician K. Natwar Singh still insists that if Madhavrao Scindia were alive, he would have become the Prime Minister. He would have been Sonia Gandhi’s first choice instead of Dr. Manmohan Singh to be the Prime Minister in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education