The terms of the three Muslim Rajya Sabha MPs of the BJP – Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, MJ Akbar and Syed Zafar Islam – are ending this year. MJ Akbar is in Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi is from Jharkhand. Three seats are falling vacant in Madhya Pradesh, out of which two are of BJP and this time also it will get two seats. But the question is, will the party send Akbar to the Upper House again? She had to resign from the post of Union Minister after allegations leveled by women journalists. So it is looking difficult that the party will send him to the Rajya Sabha.
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi is the Union Minister and he is the Muslim face of the party after Shahnawaz Hussain was sent to Bihar. Therefore the party can send him again to the Rajya Sabha. But the big question is whether he will again be sent to the Upper House from Jharkhand itself or from any other state? Keep in mind that two seats are getting vacant in Jharkhand and both are of BJP. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Mahesh Poddar are retiring. Out of this, the party will get only one seat this time. If BJP gives that one seat to an outsider and that too to a Muslim leader, it will have a big political impact. It is worth mentioning that BJP wants to topple the Hemant Soren government of the state and form its government.
Therefore, preference is likely to be given to a local leader in the Rajya Sabha elections. He can be any tribal or non-tribal. In such a situation, Naqvi can be sent to Madhya Pradesh instead of Akbar. Keep in mind that Naqvi is retiring in April and elections will be held in his home state Uttar Pradesh in July. There are 13 seats falling vacant. The results of the assembly elections will decide how many seats BJP will get out of that. Secondly, Syed Zafar Islam is also in Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh and his seat is also falling vacant. So the party hardly sends two Muslims from Uttar Pradesh together in the Rajya Sabha.
