India’s ruling party has no Muslim legislator in parliament
NEW DELHI (AA) – India’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) no longer has any Muslim legislator in the parliament as the tenure of its last Muslim legislator- Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi- who also served as the country’s Minority Affairs Ministry, ended on Thursday.
Naqvi, 64, who was a member of the Rajya Sabha or the Upper House of the parliament, left his position on Wednesday.
Among its 395 members in the Indian Parliament, the ruling BJP will have no Muslim legislators.
India is home to nearly about 200 million Muslims, the world’s third-largest Muslim population.
Ahead of his term getting over, Naqvi had told a local news agency that his political career would continue. “I understand that my tenure in Rajya Sabha has been completed, but my political and social tenure has not yet been completed. I will continue to work with dedication and concern for society,” he said.
The terms of two other Muslim legislators belonging to the BJP – M J Akbar and Syed Zafar Islam – also ended recently.
In the recent round of Rajya Sabha polls where elections are held on nominations, the party did not nominate any Muslim from the party. In the 2014 and 2019 general elections, no Muslim legislator was elected from the Hindu nationalist party.
The term of the BJP’s last Muslim parliamentarian in the Lok Sabha or lower house ended in 2014.
Have Your Say!
Have you been affected by the issues raised in this story? Please share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@soundvision.com.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a Muslim Network TV’s representative. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
Tweet: @MuslimNetworkTV
We must take charge of our narrative. Research indicates that 92% of their Muslim coverage is negative. Help us change that.
