Mumbai: Amid hectic lobbying by the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators over getting plum cabinet portfolios in Maharashtra ahead of the swearing-in ceremony of Chief Minister designate Devendra Fadnavis October 31, a debate rages in the party whether to include a Muslim minister in the cabinet or choose a Jain to head the Minority Affairs Ministry.
Names taking round in the political circle is of Syed Pasha Patel, who might be inducted into the cabinet of Devendra Fadnavis as Minister of Minority Affairs and Awkaf.
Patel is the only Muslim leader in the BJP who has a statewide presence, even in the rural areas of the state and was very close to Gopinath Munde. He began his political career with the Shetkari Sanathana and was affiliated with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Later, during 2001, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) due to differences with Sharad Joshi.
The problem with Pasha Patel however is that he was among the two Muslims fielded by the BJP but none could win the election.
"His name is still being considered for the post", a top BJP leader said.
Other option the BJP is considering is to induct a Jain as the Minister of Minority Affairs. The Jain community was granted minority status last year by the Cong-NCP government.
If a Jain becomes Minority Affairs Minister, he or she will be the first from the community to head the ministry.
The Minority Affairs Ministry was introduced, both at the centre and the state, by the Cong-led governments in 2009. Since then the ministry is headed by a Muslim.
In Narendra Modi's cabinet too the ministry is headed by Najma Heptullah - a Muslim.
The current assembly will have a total of 09 Muslim MLAs. Of them 05 are from Congress, 02 are from All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), and one each from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Samajwadi Party (SP).
The last assembly had 11 Muslim MLAs, and two of them - Arif Naseem Khan and Hasan Mushrif were ministers. Fauzia Khan, the third Muslim minister in the erstwhile government was MLC.
This is the first time the BJP is forming government in Maharashtra on its own. In 1995, it formed the government in the state in alliance with the Shiv Sena. Shiv Sena leader Sabir Shaikh had served as Labour Minister in this government - the lone face from the Muslim community which constitutes about 12% of the state's total population.
Comments
| Quick linksNews
National
International
Regional
Politics
Education & Career
Business
Science & Technology
Health
Views & Analysis
The Funny Side
© 2012 Awaz Multimedia & Publications. All rights reserved.
He also told the court the Income Tax Act has been amended to extend the limitation period up to March 31, 2015, for recovering taxes from these account holders. Under the earlier provision, a limitation period for recovery of taxes was six years which in these cases came to an end in 2012 .... More
Also Read: Supreme Court seeks names of all foreign account holders
In November 2013 while handing over the task of dumping the city wastes and garbage to a private contractor, Mayor Tahira Shaikh Rasheed had promised to convert Malegaon into Singapore. No litter will be seen anywhere from now on, and the city roads .... More
The more cautious Europeans have been equally puzzled by the meekness of Indian Muslims. It is not said in so many words but the nuanced suggestion and implication is not lost on anyone.
That at a time when their brethren elsewhere — true to their image.... More
One of the items lists the most popular names given last year to newborn boys and girls. When the statisticians saw the results, they were flabbergasted. It appears the name that topped the list was Mohammed. Mohammed? The most popular name in the.... More