Maharashtra cabinet gets Muslim minsters after 5 years

The Uddhav Thackeray-led state government was formed on Monday (December 30) with 43 members, among which four were Muslim minsters.

It is to be noted that, after a five-year gap, Muslim ministers have made an entry. Among the four, three have been given cabinet ranking.

Nawab Malik and Hasan Mushrif of the NCP and Aslam Shaikh of the Congress were sworn-in as Cabinet ministers. Shiv Sena’s Abdul Sattar took oath as a Minister of State.

According to reports, this is also the maximum ever representation of Muslims in state’s Cabinet ranks. The cabinet seat sharing quota was Shiv Sena with 15, NCP with 16 and Congress with 12.

In the late chief minster Vilasrao Deshmukh-led government in 2004, there were three Muslim ministers who held the Cabinet rank. Though, the highest Muslim representation was in Deshmukh’s term between 1999 and 2003 with a total of seven ministers, only two were given Cabinet ranks.

(With inputs from agencies)