"My Appointment Slap For Samajwadi Party, Congress": UP's Muslim Minister
NDTV
Danish Ansari replaced Mohsin Raza, who served as the Minister of State for Minorities Welfare in the previous Yogi Adityanath government, as its only Muslim face.
His becoming a minister wasn't unexpected but a symbol of faith reposed by the party in a dedicated worker and a "slap" on the faces of the opposition Samajwadi Party and Congress, said Uttar Pradesh lone Muslim minister Danish Azad Ansari on Friday.
Not a member of either house of the UP legislature, Mr Ansari, who is from Ballia, took oath as one of the 52 ministers in Yogi Adityanath's government on Friday.
"I am very glad that I have been given the opportunity. My appointment as minister is a slap by the BJP for the SP (Samajwadi Party) and Congress. Muslims have got the benefit of every scheme of the Yogi government. There is participation of Muslims in the plans. I will strive to bring together Muslims," he told NDTV.
"I thank the party for giving an ordinary party worker like me such a big opportunity. I thank them for this. I would discharge my duties with full honesty," he told news agency PTI.
