By Fayisa C A
For the first time in India, a Union Cabinet has been formed without a single Muslim minister in it. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led cabinet that came into being on Sunday saw representation from across states, classes and castes but not for the 200 million Muslim population in the country.
Interestingly, the outgoing council of ministers of the Narendra Modi-led government did not have a Muslim minister either after BJP’s Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi failed to be re-elected to Rajya Sabha in 2022, three years after he took oath as Minorities Affairs Minister. Mukhtar was the only Muslim minister in the BJP government’s cabinet. In 2014, when PM Narendra Modi came into power for the first time, then Rajya Sabha MP Najma Heptulla was made the Minority Affairs Minister, again the only Muslim representation in the cabinet.
In 1999, the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee had two Muslims in the council of ministers — Shahnawaz Hussain and Omar Abdullah. In 1998, the Vajpayee-led ministry had Naqvi as Minister of State.
The council of ministers in Congress-led UPA governments in 2004 and 2009 had four and five Muslim MPs respectively.
This story was originally published in newindianexpress.com. Read the full story here.