Following the Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023, the Sunni Ulma Board and its members demanded 5 Muslim MLAs to be made ministers and a Muslim deputy Chief Minister for the state. Notably, the Indian National Congress had won the majority shares of the vote in the elections. The Ulma board wants important portfolios to be given to the minority community people, like Home, Revenue, Health and others.
Claiming that the Congress party have won the elections because of Muslims, the Waqf board chairman, Shafi Sadi said, “We already said before the elections that the deputy chief minister should be a Muslim and that 30 seats be given to us… We got 15, and nine Muslim candidates won. In about 72 constituencies, Congress won purely because of the Muslims. We, as a community, have given a lot to the Congress. Now it’s time we get something in return. We want a Muslim deputy chief minister and five ministers with good portfolios like Home, Revenue, and Education. It’s the responsibility of Congress to thank us for this. We held an emergency meeting in the Sunni Ulma board office to ensure all these are implemented,”
“That will be decided by the Congress based on who has worked well and is a good candidate. Many Muslim candidates have also visited other constituencies and canvassed there, ensuring Hindu-Muslim unity, sometimes leaving their constituency behind. So they have a key role in the Congress’s victory. They have to have an ideal Deputy CM from the Muslim community. It is their responsibility,” Sadi added.
Sadi said, ideally there should be a Muslim Chief Minister but they will not change their demands of having a Muslim deputy CM.
Demands of Waqf Board Chief Shafi Sadi after Karnataka win:
• Muslim Deputy Chief Minister
• Five Muslim Ministers
• Important portfolios like Home, Revenue & EducationImagine the outrage if say a temple body had asked the BJP to give ministerial positions to Brahmins?… pic.twitter.com/czop4ljk2F
— BALA (@erbmjha) May 15, 2023
“It must happen for sure. It was our demand before the elections itself. It must be fulfilled. We are only asking for a Deputy CM to be the Muslim. Ideally, it should be a Muslim CM because Karnataka has never had one in its history, and 90 lakh people in the state are Muslims. We are the largest minority community apart from the SCs. We didn’t get the 30+ seats we wanted. But we at least want five Muslim ministers like during SM Krishna’s period and now a Deputy CM. That’s what we want,” he said.
The Congress fielded 15 Muslim candidates out of which 9 won from their respective seats.
Notably, these were the first Assembly elections in the state since the controversy over hijab and the central government imposed a five-year ban on the Islamist organisation Popular Front of India (PFI).
Earlier in the manifesto the Congress party declared that they will bring back the 4% Muslim reservation which was scrapped by the BJP-led Karnataka government.
On May 13, the results of the Karnataka assembly elections were declared and Congress returned to power as the single largest party by winning 135 out of 224 Assembly seats. BJP won 66 seats, and JD(S) grabbed 19 seats. Two seats went to the independent candidates, while Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha and Sarvodya Karnataka Paksha won 1-1 seat each.
