As Yogi Adityanath was sworn in as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for a second consecutive term, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government on Friday, 25 March revealed Danish Azad Ansari as the only Muslim face in Yogi's new cabinet.
A resident of the Balia district in UP, Ansari holds the membership to the Urdu Language Committee of the UP government and is presently the BJP's Minority Front General Secretary in Uttar Pradesh.
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The Sunni leader had joined RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) while studying in Lucknow Muslim University, and has replaced Mohsin Raza, a Shiite Muslim who was a part of Yogi's last cabinet.
The appointment is widely being interpreted as the BJP's attempt to draw in support from the Sunni community which is generally politically opposed to the BJP.
In an interview with The Indian Express, Ansari said, “That opinion (of Sunni Muslims) has changed. Yogi government has effectively done works for all the sects of Muslim community. Schemes for ration, houses, Ayushman card have benefited all sections. Muslims too have understood that and hence they love BJP, Yogi and Modi.”
Ansari has, in the past, also asserted that BJP's Yogi Adityanath-led government in UP is committed to the upliftment of minorities and the youth, NDTV reported.
Yogi Adityanath took the oath as the CM of UP for a second consecutive term at the Ekana cricket stadium in Lucknow on Friday.
Former deputy chief minister KP Maurya also took the ministerial oath, retaining his deputy CM position. BJP minister Brajesh Pathak took his third oath on Friday, replacing Dinesh Sharma as the second deputy CM of the state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also present for the mammoth ceremony, where over 50 ministers of the newly elected BJP government were sworn in.
(With inputs from NDTV.)
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