Elevation or end of the road? Naqvi’s fate hangs in balance

Lucknow: Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi’s fate hangs in balance after the BJP on Friday decided to field Ghanshyam Lodhi for Parliamentary by—poll in Rampur.

Naqvi’s candidature for Rampur Lok Sabha seat had gained currency in party circles after he was denied a berth in the Rajya Sabha.

But with that possibility also coming to an end, the only Muslim Minister in the Modi Government will now have to resign from the Union Cabinet. In fact, the BJP which has - MJ Akbar, Syed Zafar Islam and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi - will not have any Muslim representatives in the Rajya Sabha as the term of these three lawmakers --comes to an end by July.

Akbar, who was also a junior minister of external affairs till October 2018 will retire on June 29, and Islam and Naqvi will retire on July 4 and 7 respectively.In the Lok Sabha, Mehboob Ali Kaiser of the Lok Jan Shakti Party is the only Muslim representative of the NDA.

The BJP, which won 303 of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha in 2019 managed a win with only Saumitra Khan in WB.

In 2014 too, the party gave tickets to 2 Muslim candidates in West Bengal, one each in Lakshadweep and Bihar and three in Jammu and Kashmir, but none of these candidates were elected.

As per constitutional provisions, even without being an MP, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi can still remain minister for the next six months.

While a reshuffle in the Union Cabinet now appears imminent, the buzz around Naqvi is that he maybe in the reckoning for the Vice President or considered for a gubernatorial assignment or an organisational post.

BJP insiders have already concluded that the minister who will be dropped might be selected as a vice presidential candidate.