Hyderabad: The All India Congress Committee (AICC) on Thursday, April 2, constituted an advisory council for its minority department, with 33 leaders appointed to the body with immediate effect, including Telangana minister Mohammad Azharuddin, according to a communication from AICC general secretary KC Venugopal dated April 1.
The council brings together a cross-section of senior party figures, former ministers and sitting legislators with long-standing associations with minority affairs and broader Congress politics.
Among the more prominent appointments is Tariq Anwar, a veteran Congress leader and former Union minister who had briefly aligned with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) before returning to the party. Salman Khurshid, a former Union minister who has held both the external affairs and law portfolios, and Abhishek Manu Singhvi, senior Supreme Court advocate, Rajya Sabha MP from Telangana and one of the party’s most recognised spokespersons, are also on the council.
K Rahman Khan, who served as Union Minister for Minority Affairs in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, and Ghulam Ahmad Mir, a former president of the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee, find places on the body alongside Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, who served as Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab.
Telangana Minorities Welfare Minister Azharuddin, the former Indian cricket captain who represented the country in 99 Tests and later entered politics, is also among those appointed to the national-level body.
The council’s constitution has been approved by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, the letter stated.
