He has the distinction of being the founder National President of the Bharatiya Janata Party Minority Front.
[3] His half-brother Bala Baig was also a well-known figure in Indore, who spent 3 years in jail in 1990s for a host of illegal activities.
With Sikander Bakht becoming the most prominent Muslim in BJP, Arif Beg left the party in 1996, but he returned to it in 2003.
[6] He contested Bhopal again in 1998 but for Congress, and lost this time to BJP's Sushil Chandra Varma.
He fought his last electoral battle in 2013 when, back in BJP by now, he was its losing candidate in 2013 Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha election from Bhopal North seat, from where Arif Aqueel of Congress won.