Lucknow, August 18: The BJP has announced its new national team under party president Nitin Nabin, bringing several new leaders into key organisational positions.
Among the notable appointments are two Muslim leaders from Uttar Pradesh, former Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) vice-chancellor Professor Tariq Mansoor and UP BJP Minority Morcha president Kunwar Basit Ali.
Mansoor has been retained as the BJP’s national vice-president, while Basit Ali has been appointed national president of the BJP Minority Morcha.
Their inclusion assumes significance as the BJP prepares for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections scheduled for next year. Both leaders have been associated with the party’s efforts to expand its outreach among sections of the Muslim community.
Tariq Mansoor: From AMU vice-chancellor to BJP leader
Tariq Mansoor, 70, is a former vice-chancellor of AMU and currently serves as a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council. He joined the BJP in 2023 before entering electoral politics.
Mansoor belongs to the Qureshi community and has been associated with the BJP’s outreach towards Pasmanda Muslims.
Born in Aligarh, Mansoor comes from an academic family. His father, Professor Hafizur Rahman, served as chairman and dean of AMU’s Faculty of Law. His wife, Professor Hamida Tariq, is associated with Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College.
Mansoor completed his MBBS from Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College in 1978 and obtained his MS in 1982. He subsequently held several academic and administrative positions at the medical college.
He became a professor in 2002 and later served as principal and chief medical superintendent of Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College.
In 2017, Mansoor was appointed vice-chancellor of AMU. He remained in the position until he entered active politics.
Mansoor has also served on several national institutions and bodies, including the Medical Council of India, IIM Lucknow’s Board of Governors and the governing body of the Maulana Azad Education Foundation.
His association with senior BJP and RSS leaders has also attracted political attention. He has participated in events involving senior Sangh leaders.
Mansoor’s continued presence in the BJP’s national leadership gives the party an established Muslim face with an academic and professional background.
Basit Ali: BJP’s grassroots Muslim outreach face
Kunwar Basit Ali, 40, represents the BJP’s grassroots organisational outreach among Muslims in Uttar Pradesh.
A resident of Meerut district, Ali joined the BJP Minority Morcha in 2011 as a Mandal president. He subsequently served as district media in-charge and became district president of the BJP Minority Morcha in 2012.
He later worked as a regional coordinator of the Muslim Rashtriya Manch before taking on larger responsibilities within the BJP’s state organisation.
Ali belongs to the Muslim Rajput community and was appointed president of the Uttar Pradesh BJP Minority Morcha in 2021.
He has also served as a member of the Uttar Pradesh Urdu Academy and participated in several outreach initiatives.
Ali has promoted programmes involving madrasas, yoga and the BJP’s Modi Mitra campaign as part of efforts to connect with Muslim communities.
In 2023, Ali gained wider attention after the BJP’s Uttar Pradesh Minority Morcha published an Urdu compilation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat radio addresses.
The publication contained selected episodes of the programme and was distributed as part of the party’s outreach to Muslim voters.
Ali also launched the ‘Shukriya Modi Bhaijaan’ campaign ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The initiative focused particularly on reaching out to Muslim women and informing them about government welfare schemes.
He also worked to increase the participation of Muslim women as polling agents during the elections.
Ali has supported the BJP government’s legislation against instant triple talaq, arguing that the law strengthened the rights and security of Muslim women.
What the appointments mean for BJP’s Muslim outreach
The appointments of Tariq Mansoor and Basit Ali give the BJP two distinct Muslim faces from Uttar Pradesh at the national level.
Mansoor brings an academic, medical and institutional background, while Ali has built his political career through grassroots organisation and minority outreach.
With Uttar Pradesh heading towards another Assembly election, their roles could become important to the BJP’s efforts to engage with different sections of the Muslim community.
The two leaders are likely to play different but complementary roles as the BJP expands its organisational and political outreach ahead of the polls.
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