Tag Archives: Wajib Ali

Australia-Returned Young Muslim MLA Makes A Mark In Rajasthan By Improving Social Conditions In Meo-Dominated Region

Sikri Village (Nagar Pahari Tehsii, Bharatpur District), RAJASTHAN:

Wajib Ali.

Jaipur:

A successful young Indian Muslim educationist from Australia, who has made his way into the Rajasthan Assembly as an MLA with the dream to bring about a change at his native place, has made a mark by improving social conditions in the Meo-dominated region in the eastern part of the state. The MLA from Nagar constituency in Bharatpur district, Wajib Ali, 40, defies the image of typical politicians.

Born in a Meo Muslim family of Nagar block’s Sikri village, Ali had left his native place to pursue higher studies in 2005, when he first went to New Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia and later migrated to Australia. He came back to Bharatpur in 2013 and contested the State Assembly election as a National People’s Party candidate, but he lost to Bharatiya Janata Party’s sitting MLA Anita Singh.

MLA from Nagar constituency Wajib Ali with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot

Ali has a thriving real estate business in Australia and he runs eight colleges and a school, along with his two brothers, in the cities such as Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. He led a successful election campaign in the rural heartland during the December 2018 Assembly polls and was elected an MLA on the Bahujan Samaj Party’s ticket from the Nagar seat.

In 2019, Ali defected to the ruling Congress along with five other BSP MLAs while declaring that all of them wanted to ensure the State Government’s stability. The move came amid reports of the BJP trying to lure the BSP MLAs in a bid to repeat a Karnataka-type upheaval in Rajasthan. Ali and  his fellow MLAs also supported Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot during the political crisis in 2020, caused by the rebellion of the then Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot, and voted for the Congress candidates in the Rajya Sabha elections held in June 2022.

Ali was later appointed the Chairperson of the Rajasthan State Food Commission in August 2022. He has been active in the Meo-dominated region since 2013, extending support to the people’s struggles and raising their issues with the Government authorities.

Ali says that he had come back to India with the desire to make a difference in people’s lives and improve the social conditions in eastern Rajasthan. “This is the most backward area in Rajasthan and the basic facilities are lacking here. Moreover, the people belonging to the Meo Muslim community are treated with suspicion,” he says.

In his election campaign, Ali succeeded in convincing the voters about his honest intentions. “People from all castes voted for me in Nagar constituency, where Muslims comprise 20% of population. The voters were convinced that I had sacrificed my comforts in Australia to do something for them,” he says with a sense of satisfaction.

“Moreover, I have defeated the idea of communalism and hate campaign, which is used for climbing up the ladder in politics. Common people have reposed faith in me,” Ali says. In the election results, BJP’s Anita Singh was relegated to the third position, while Samajwadi Party’s Nem Singh was the runner-up. Having secured 62,644 votes, Ali won with a margin of 25,467 votes.

Ever since his election, Ali has focused on education and health in his constituency in order to raise the standard of living of the villagers. “I have been working for improving the quality of Government education system. Private education is not a solution. Even if I open schools and colleges in Nagar, it cannot serve the numbers. Only a robust Government education set-up can benefit everyone,” he points out.

As regards the health sector, the condition of Government facilities was earlier pathetic in the villages, where 95% of the women’s delivery cases were referred to private hospitals. Ali’s interventions at various levels have helped improve the situation. He has also brought relief to Muslims and other marginalised groups by raising their issues on various forums.

Ali has drawn the attention of Government authorities to the law and order situation and corruption in various offices with public dealing. He has sought to utilise his position as an MLA for betterment of society and setting the things correct on various occasions. He recently raised the issue of suspension of an Urdu teacher, Amin Kayamkhani, with the Education Minister when the teacher drew the Minister’s attention to the Urdu subject being sidelined in the schools.

As a result of Ali’s sustained efforts, a large number of announcements were made for the development of the Nagar Assembly constituency in the 2023-24 State Budget presented in the Assembly last month. The announcements included construction of a hostel for girls belonging to minority community and a new sub-district hospital, establishment of an Agriculture College, installation of a faecal sludge treatment plant and upgradation of Khoh and Jaluki village panchayats as sub-tehsils.

The selfless and dedicated work by Ali in the eastern Rajasthan region both before and after his election as an MLA has set an example of how the young educated Muslims can bring a change by entering the multifarious fields of public service. The common people in Nagar constituency, who have reposed faith in Ali’s leadership, are hopeful that he will set new standards of public service and bring a new identity to the backward region.

source: http://www.indiatomorrow.net / India Tomorrow / Home> News> Society / by India Tomorrow Correspondent / March 31st, 2023

Eight Muslims MLAs from Rajasthan this time, up from just two in 2013

RAJASTHAN :

MuslimLadyMLAmpos18dec2018

The Rajasthan elections are out and the Congress is all set to form a government in the state along with also doing the same in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The ousting of the BJP from Rajasthan has also resulted in a larger number of Muslim candidates being elected to the Rajasthan assembly, even though interestingly this is the first time that no Muslim won from the BJP since 1998.  Compared with 2013 elections when the Rajasthan assembly had only two Muslim MLAs, this election resulted in seven Muslims from Congress and one Muslim from BSP winning. The Congress had given tickets to 15 Muslims in these elections.

Rafeek Khan, Adarshnagar Constituency(Photo: Social Media)
Rafeek Khan, Adarshnagar Constituency(Photo: Social Media)

Rafeek Khan of Congress won from Adarsh Nagar seat with a margin of 12,553 over BJP’s Ashok Pamami, who was the current MLA of the region. In Kishan pole, Amin Kagzi won by a narrow margin of  a little less than 1,500 votes. The closest fight among the eight Muslim candidates was for Saleh Mohammed from Pokhran, who beat Pratap Pani from the BJP by a margin of just 929 votes. The same could not be said about Zahida Khan, however. The only Muslim female candidate who won, Khan received over 1 lakh votes. She defeated her closest candidate by a margin of over 39,000 votes. Along with Khan, another strong victory for Muslim candidates came from Danish Abrar, who is also the party’s spokesperson for the state. Abrar beat popular BJP leader Ashok Meena by a margin of over 25,000 votes. The other Muslim candidates who won on a Congress seat were Hakam Ali from Fatehpur and Amin Khan from Shau constituency.

Hakim Ali Khan (Photo: Social Media)
Hakim Ali Khan (Photo: Social Media)

Interestingly, the only non-Congress Muslim candidate who won from Rajasthan came not from the BJP but the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Ali won by a margin of over 25,000 against Nempal Singh of the Samajwadi Party with the Congress and the BJP relegated to third and fourth respectively.

WajibAli Naagar constituency ( Photo: Social Media)
WajibAli Naagar constituency ( Photo: Social Media)

The only BJP candidate who won in 2013 elections, Mohammed Younus, was essentially turned into a sacrificial lamb for these elections. Younus, who was the number 2 to Vasundhara Raje, was made to change his constituency on the last day and to make matters worse, he was made to contest against Sachin Pilot in Tonk. No surprises, then, that Younus lost by over 56,000 votes to Pilot who polled over 1 lakh votes.

Amin Khan who won for the 5th time (Photo: Social Media)
Amin Khan who won for the 5th time (Photo: Social Media)

These elections across five states have resulted in a total of 19 Muslim candidates winning across Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan,  Telangana and Chattisgarh. While Rajasthan and Telangana saw eight Muslim candidates each, two Muslim candidates won from Madhya Pradesh while one Muslim candidate also won from Chattisgarh. No Muslim candidate contested from Mizoram.

Sohail Mohammed with his father Ghazi Fakeer from Pohkhran ( Photo: Social Meida)
Sohail Mohammed with his father Ghazi Fakeer from Pohkhran ( Photo: Social Meida)

source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Elections Update> Indian Muslim> Lead Story / by Aas Mohammed Kaif, TwoCircles.net / December 12th, 2018