Bidar MLA Rahim Khan, who emerged victorious in the recently held Karnataka Assembly Elections, took oath as a cabinet minister in the Siddaramaiah government on Saturday. The swearing-in ceremony was held at Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru, where Khan pledged his commitment to serving the people of Karnataka.
Rahim Khan, a two-time MLA, secured a resounding victory by defeating JD(S)’s Suryakanth Nagamarpalli with a margin of 10,780 votes. His triumph in the elections solidified his position as one of the prominent representatives of the Congress party in the region. Today, he joined the ranks of 24 Congress MLAs who were sworn in as cabinet ministers in the newly elected Karnataka government.
Nine Muslim representatives all from Congress party had won the election in the Karnataka assembly elections, despite multiple political parties fielding Muslim candidates in the elections.
Congress had fielded 15 Muslim candidates, while Janata Dal (Secular) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) fielded 21 and 15 Muslim candidates, respectively. The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) had fielded 11 Muslim candidates, and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) had fielded 1 Muslim candidate.
Among the victorious Muslim MLAs, BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan, a five-time MLA from Chamrajpet, was earlier inducted as a cabinet minister on the same day Congress leader Siddaramaiah was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka.
Additionally, the Congress party appointed former Karnataka Minister and Mangaluru MLA UT Khader as the Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. UT Khader made history by becoming the first Muslim to hold this prestigious position in the state’s legislative history. He was elected unopposed as the opposition BJP and JD(S) did not field their candidates.
