Lone Muslim in last state BJP cabinet joins Congress

The only Muslim minister in the BJP government in Karnataka between 2008 and 2013,Mumtaz Ali Khan,quit the party and joined the Congress Thursday. He cited the nomination of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the BJP prime ministerial candidate as the reason for his shift.

The professor of sociology was a close aide of former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and was chosen to be the minister for minority affairs,Haj and Wakf in the erstwhile BJP government in the state.

Lately,he had been associated with the Karnataka Janata Party floated by Yeddyurappa that has supported the candidature of Modi for PM.

“Modi did not regret the 2002 tragedy. We have to work together and stop Modi from becoming the Prime Minister,” Khan said at a press conference at the office of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee,where state Congress president G Parameshwara welcomed him.