Shale Mohammad also known as Mohammad Saleh (born 1 February 1977) is an Indian politician serving as the Cabinet Minister of Minority Affairs of the state of

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

since 2018. He belongs to the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

party.

Personal life

Mohammad's father is Gazi Fakir, who is a Muslim religious leader. Fakir is influential amongst the Sindhi Muslims.

Political career

Early career

In 2000, Mohammad became the head of

Jaisalmer Jaisalmer , nicknamed "The Golden city", is a city in the Indian state of Rajasthan, located west of the state capital Jaipur. The town stands on a ridge of yellowish sandstone and is crowned by the ancient Jaisalmer Fort. This fort contains a ...

Panchayat samiti Panchayat samiti is a rural local government (panchayat) body at the intermediate tehsil (taluka/mandal) level in India. It works for the villages of the tehsil that together are called a development block. It has been said to be the "panchayat ...

at the age of 23. I
2013 Rajasthan Legislative Assembly election
Mohammad was defeated by

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

candidate Shaitan Singh by a margin of approximately 35,000 votes. In

2008 Rajasthan Legislative Assembly election Legislative Assembly elections were held in Indian state of Rajasthan on 4 December 2008. Results were announced on 8 December. The incumbent ruling party BJP lost to Congress. Results Party-wise list of elected MLAs Elected Members List o ...

, he won from the newly created Pokhran assembly constituency by a margin of 339 votes. However, he lost to Shaitan Singh in the next election.

Cabinet minister

2018 Rajasthan Legislative Assembly election The Indian National Congress became the single largest party with 100 seats, short of majority by 1 seat. The Bharatiya Janata Party won 73 seats, much lower compared to the previous election in which it won an absolute majority of 163 seats. The ...

, Mohammad was pitted against Bharatiya Janata Party candidate

Mahant Mahant () is a religious superior, in particular the chief of a temple or the head of a monastery in Indian religions. James Mallinson, one of the few westerners to be named as a mahant, describes the position of a mahant as a combination of an ...

Pratap Puri. Pratap Puri is a Hindu

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

and is the ''mahant'' (chief priest) of Taratara sect. According to political observers, by fielding the ''mahant'' against Mohammad, the party was trying to fight

anti-incumbency Anti-incumbency is sentiment in favor of voting out incumbent politicians. It is sometimes referred to as a "throw the bums out" sentiment. Periods of anti-incumbent sentiment are typically characterized by wave elections. This sentiment can also le ...

by polarising the Hindu voters. Mohammad defeated Pratap Puri by a margin of 872 votes. Subsequently, Mohammad was made a cabinet minister in the third Gehlot ministry and became the first ever politician from

Jaisalmer district Jaisalmer is the largest district in the Indian state of Rajasthan, and the third largest district in India. Located in Marwar (Jodhpur Division), the city of Jaisalmer is the administrative headquarters of the district. It is around from the ...

to get a ministry. He took charge over the ministry of Minority affairs, and took oath on 25 December 2018.

Controversy

In August 2013, an

FIR Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family (biology), family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North America, North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The ...

was lodged against Mohammad for allegedly issuing threats to

IPS IPS, ips, or iPS may refer to: Science and technology Biology and medicine * ''Ips'' (genus), a genus of bark beetle * Induced pluripotent stem cell or iPS cells * Intermittent photic stimulation, a neuroimaging technique * Intraparietal sulcus, ...

officer Pankaj Choudhary following an argument at a petrol pump.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohammad, Saleh 1977 births Living people People from Rajasthan People from Jaisalmer district Indian National Congress politicians Rajasthan MLAs 2018–2023