Danish Azad Ansari: An emerging Muslim face in BJP

From student politics in the ABVP to being made Minister in the Yogi Adityanath government, Mr. Ansari has had much success in the party and looks like there is more to come

The BJP government’s ongoing Madrasa survey, which has invited a slew of criticism from Opposition parties and Muslim organisations, has found its most ardent defender in the Cabinet’s lone Muslim face — Minister of (State) Minority Welfare, Muslim Waqf and Haj, Danish Azad Ansari.

The 34-year-old legislator has passionately vouched for the move, pointing out that the exercise aims to connect the madrasas with government schemes like Nai Roshni, Nai Udaan. The government wants the children studying in these institutions to get an exposure to modern and technical education, along with religious education, he has argued.

“If I talk about Madrasa education, the Yogi government made it possible that National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) course is available to the students studying in these institutions. It will certainly help to connect the children belonging to average Muslim family studying here to the modern world,” Mr. Ansari reasoned. The description fits the Minister too, who comes from a humble middle-class background; his father used to run a saree shop, while his mother was a school teacher.

Last month, when political heavyweights like four-time Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati and Hyderabad parliamentarian Asaduddin Owaisi targeted the State government for the survey, claiming that it is being done with evil intentions to create fear among the Muslims, it was Mr. Ansari who came forward to its defence. “These propagandas are orchestrated by the Opposition as the Muslim community is drawn towards the BJP government. We only want the students studying in these Islamic institutions to get the exposure of modern and technical education,” he declared.

While his position on the survey may have only recent made him a newsmaker, Mr. Ansari’s rise within the party has been in the making for years. In the BJP’s scheme of things, he ticks all the boxes. For starters, he is from the Pasmanda community, which has been the focus area of the ruling party that has been trying to expand its electoral base.

Hailing from Ballia, in Eastern Uttar Pradesh — a place made politically popular by the legacy of the late Chandrashekhar, a socialist who became country’s Prime Minister for a short period — Mr. Ansari has replaced Mohsin Raza as the representative of the Muslim community in Yogi 2.0 government.

The MLA began his journey in politics in 2005, with his entry into the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He had then enrolled into the Lucknow University, where he did his graduation and post-graduation.