On Sunday evening, the 72-member council of ministers took their oath under the aegis of Narendra Modi. The new Modi government, however is not going to have a single Muslim Minister.
"There is a wide representation from every caste, community, State, with 7 former CMs providing the weight and wealth of experience. Just one aspect missing: yet again not a single Muslim in the ministerial list," wrote senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai.
27 Hindu OBCs, 10 SCs, 5 STs, and 5 non-Muslim minorities have been inducted in the Cabinet.
Prof Dilip Mandal feels that this is a "blatantly communal" way of looking at things. He opined that such a view ignores that there is no constitutional requirement for the Prime Minister to appoint ministers from specific communities. "This approach could lead to communal awards, separate electorates, and possibly another partition. For the record, the first Nehru cabinet had two Muslims but no OBC minister, leaving 52% of the population unrepresented," he added.
Well-wishers of Muslims say that they can't expect the Modi government to go out of its way to give them representation if they strategically vote against the BJP in every election despite receiving a chunk of welfare benefits.
