Influential Minister resigns in India

Press, 5 December 1979, Page 9

Influential Minister resigns in India

NZPA-Reuter New Delhi Another Minister has resigned from the Indian Government as Opposition' parties vie with each other to win Muslim votes in next month’s national elections. The C mmunications Minister (Zulfiqar U 1 Lah). who heads a front of five Muslim ergani-av ins. resigned from Mr Charan Singh’s ruling coalition to support the Opp i'ition Janata Party. He represents the Naflis group, an influential Muslim organisation in the key, northern ‘-’ate of Uttar Prad- mi, which will elect 85 member- to the 544-seat Unver House of Parliament: ■ n January 3 and 6. In the last six weeks three other Ministers have resigned and joined the Con-1 gres (I) Party of the former! Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi, who is trying to regain power after her defeat at the polls in 1977. They included the Finance Minister (Mr Hemwati Nan dan Bahuguna), who also enjoys considerable support among the Muslim minority in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state. He joined .Mrs Gandhi with the hacking of Delhi’s Muslim leader, the Shahi Imam of the Juma Masjid Mosque. Muslims in India account for about 12 per cent of the population of 650 million, but have no national party. Mr Zulfiqar U 1 Lah was one of three Muslim Ministers' in Mr Singh’s 21-man Cabinet. He supported the Janata Party until it split last July when Mr Singh, leader of the breakaway Lok Dal faction, succeeded Mr Morarji Desai as Prime Minister. But Mr Singh resigned 24 days later rather than face defeat in a vote of no confidence. He continues in office in a caretaker capacity until the mid-term poll. Welcoming Mr Zulfiqar U 1 Lah back to the Janata Party, Mr Jagjivan Ram, its leader, said the Muslim Front’s decision to extend whole-hearted co-operation to the Janata Party in Uttai ■Pradesh was a political development of great significance. The Janata Party’ is expected to leave four seats for the Muslim Front to contest in exchange for its support elsewhere. Mr Ram told a press conference in New Delhi that the Janata Party was the only political organisation that commanded the confidence of minorities. Other parties make similar claims.