A founder-member of the Aam Aadmi Party, the anti-corruption political outfit launched by Arvind Kejriwal in November, 2012, Shazia Ilmi is already a veteran of two elections.
(India Votes 2014: Coverage)She contested her first election in December last year, for the RK Puram seat in the Delhi Assembly elections, and lost by a mere 326 votes.
In her second, the 43-year-old takes on former Army Chief, Gen (Retd.) VK Singh, who is contesting on the BJP ticket, and film actor-turned-politician Raj Babbar in Ghaziabad. It is one of the most watched contests of these general elections.
Only three years ago, Shazia Ilmi was a TV journalist, a feisty anchor at a prominent Hindi news channel grilling politicians and others.
(India Votes 2014: Candidates)A visit to Jantar Mantar on the first day of Gandhian Anna Hazare's fast against corruption in April 2011, changed her life, she has said. Ms Ilmi was persuaded by another TV journalist Manish Sisodia and Anna's then right hand man Arvind Kejriwal to join the India Against Corruption (IAC) bandwagon.
They would later be three of the core members of AAP, with Ms Ilmi helping shape one of the most canny media strategies seen in Indian politics in recent years.
Controversies have inevitably followed celebrity. A "sting operation" conducted while campaigning for the Delhi assembly elections was on, allegedly showed Ms Ilmi promising favours for money.
(Shazia Ilmi offers to opt out of elections after sting operation)Her party defended her stoutly, accusing those who conducted the sting of a political conspiracy to malign AAP leaders by airing portions out of context.
Now, in a video posted on YouTube, she is purportedly seen controversially urging Muslim leaders, "I'm saying Muslims are very secular. Muslims need to be communal. A Muslim isn't communal - doesn't vote for his own. Arvind Kejriwal is one of you. You are too...don't be this secular. Look after your own homes (interests)."
("Muslims are too secular," says AAP's Shazia Ilmi in video)Ms Ilmi told NDTV that her comments were "a play of words."
Ms Ilmi was born in a middle class Muslim family in Kanpur in 1970. She has four brothers and a sister. Her father was the founder-editor of the oldest and largest-selling Urdu daily in Kanpur, Siyasat Jadid.
Her family was considered close to the Congress.
She did her schooling from Kanpur and Shimla. Later, she studied Mass Communication from famous Jamia Milia Islamia University and has also studied journalism and broadcasting at the University of Wales in Cardiff.
(Shazia Ilmi says no wave in Narendra Modi's favour)Ms Ilmi has been involved in a long running feud over ancestoral property with her siblings and her 80-year-old mother.
Last year, Ms Ilmi's younger brother, Rashid, contested against her as an Independent candidate from RK Puram. Another brother, Aijaz too campaigned against her.
(Stones pelted at dais during Shazia Ilmi's rally)She is married to an investment banker, Sajid Malik.