Somaiya was born and brought up in Mumbai in a middle-class family. He graduated as a Chartered accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) in 1979 and also secured a rank in the All India Merit List. He married Medha Somaiya and they have one son. His son, Neil, also joined BJP and is the Municipal Councillor from Ward 108 Mulund.[2]
In 1995, Somaiya contested in the Maharashtra Assembly elections and got elected from the Mulund assembly where he won by a margin of 43,527 votes. As a M.L.A., he got 2 major Acts passed in the Maharashtra Assembly - Small Investors’ Protection Act of Maharashtra, Repealing Coroners Court (Post Mortem) Act and introduced the Housing Society Conveyance Bill.[citation needed]
In 1999 Lok Sabha election, Somaiya defeated the incumbent Gurudas Kamat of the Indian National Congress by a margin of 7,276 votes. As a parliamentarian, he submitted the maximum number of petitions to the parliament, i.e. 11 (out of 27 total petitions presented in 13th Lok Sabha) during his tenure in Lok Sabha which was the highest number of petitions submitted by any MP in the history of Indian Parliament. He was an active member of the house where during his tenure he raised a total of 832 questions in the house on several issues.[citation needed]
On 18 July 2023, Marathi news channel "Lokshahi" claimed possession of multiple videos allegedly featuring Kirit Somaiya in compromising positions, causing shockwaves throughout the political landscape.[4] Kirit Somaiya refuted the allegations and requested Maharashtra Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis to investigate the incident.[5]
Chairperson, Standing Committee on Energy[9] (2014-2016)
Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Railways[8] (2000-2004)
Social and political contributions
As the National convener of the Anti-Corruption – Scam Expose Committee of the BJP, Somaiya ran a Nationwide campaign against corruption of the ruling UPA Government and its allies where he travelled through 16 states and 100 districts exposing several scams. He has, however, been characteristically silent on scams and corruption within his own party like the Yeddyurappa scandal.[10]
As a People's Activist, Somaiya has made several contributions, both Social and political in nature. He founded the NGO "Yuvak Pratishthan" which has been active for over 3 decades in taking up several initiatives such as Slum Rehabilitation, Cheap and Accessible Healthcare for all, Promotion of Education and Sports.[14]
