Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi is likely to be fielded as the BJP candidate for Vice President’s office, election to which is slated to be held on 6 August, Naqvi resigned from the Union Council of Ministers on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Smriti Irani was appointed as minority affairs minister after Naqvi resigned .
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a Cabinet meeting held in the day was all praise for the work the outgoing minority affairs minister had done all these years. Effusive in his praise, the Prime Minister told his cabinet colleagues that they all would miss him, creating a buzz that Naqvi may be fielded as candidate of BJP-led alliance NDA for the office of Vice President of India. The Cabinet meeting rather turned into a farewell party for Naqvi, said sources. He was congratulated in advance by his Cabinet colleagues for a bigger responsibility that he would be given charge of in coming days. Nominations for the election will commence from 19 July.
Naqvi, who is a Rajya Sabha member, was not nominated to Upper House for a second term elections to which were held on 10 June. He was not given a ticket in the recently held parliamentary elections, either, thus leaving the saffron party bereft of any Muslim law maker in either house of Parliament. Naqvi’s term as a Rajya Sabha MP comes to an end on Thursday.
The question is why Naqvi for the post? The answer lies in the international outrage that Nupur Sharma’s unsavoury remarks against Prophet Muhammad created, battering India’s image, especially among Muslim countries, with calls for boycott of Indian goods and Indian ambassadors being summoned by their host countries. India needs a Muslim face to correct the perception that the controversy has created.
Naqvi, as a Union minister, has visited many Muslim countries and has established personal rapport with them. According to sources, if the BJP promotes Naqvi to the office of Vice President of India, it will help PM Modi and his government to refurbish country’s image.
Sources in the BJP told The Daily Guardian Review that there were two prominent Muslim leaders whose name had been proposed to PM Modi for the post. One among them was Naqvi and the other was that of Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan. However, the balance tilted in Naqvi’s favour. Since Vice President is also the Chair of the Upper House, Naqvi was found a good choice as far as helping the BJP government implement its agenda through Rajya Sabha is concerned.
With Naqvi at the helm both as Vice President and as Chair of the Rajya Sabha serves the purpose well.