Former Governor of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh Mohammad Shafi Qureshi has been nominated chairman of National Commission for Minorities. A notification making announcement of his new assignment was issued on August 31. The post of NCM chairman was lying vacant when former chairman Hamid Ansari was elected Vice-President of India.
The great Muslim personages whose names had been pending before Congress president Sonia Gandhi to be nominated as NCM chairman include India’s Ambassador in Turkmenistan M Afzal, present member of the Commission Zoya Hasan, Congress Minority Cell chairman Imran Qidwai, Safdar Hussain Khan, Kamal Farooqui and Mohammad Adeeb. Ms Hasan had the backing of the Left and former chairman Hamid Ansari had also reportedly recommended her name. But the Congress president laid her hands on Shafi Qureshi, who is considered to be the most faithful Muslim Congressman.
Born on 24 November 1929, Mr Qureshi is the founder of the Congress party in the Indian administered Kashmir. Besides being Governor in different States, he held different portfolios in the Union Cabinet including the Ministries of Commerce and Railways.