Shale Mohammad (born 1 February 1977) is an Indian politician formerly serving as the

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

of Minority Affairs Waqf Colonization Department

Government of Rajasthan The Government of Rajasthan is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Rajasthan and its districts of Rajasthan, 41 districts. It consists of an executive branch, led by the governor of Rajasthan, as well as judiciary and legis ...

& served Member of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly from

Pokaran Assembly constituency Pokaran is one of List of constituencies of Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha, constituencies of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly in the Jodhpur (Lok Sabha constituency). Members of the Legislative Assembly Election results 2023 2018 ...

. He is a

Politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

from the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

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 north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, located west of the state capital Jaipur, in the heart of the Thar Desert. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Jaisalmer district ...

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

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 List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

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 ...

, 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 Legislative Assembly elections were held in the Indian state of Rajasthan on 7 December 2018. The Indian National Congress became the single largest party with 100 seats, short of the majority by 1 seat. The Bharatiya Janata Party won 73 seats, ...

, 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 Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

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, for the specific reason of being incumbent politicians. It is sometimes referred to as a "throw the bums out" sentiment. Periods of anti-incumbent sentiment are typically c ...

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 The Third Ashok Gehlot ministry is the state cabinet of the Indian state of Rajasthan in the 15th Rajasthan Legislative Assembly headed by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. History Inauguration The results for the 2018 Rajasthan Legislative Ass ...

and became the first ever politician from

Jaisalmer district Jaisalmer district 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 ...

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 are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...

was lodged against Mohammad for allegedly issuing threats to IPS 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 from Rajasthan Rajasthan MLAs 2018–2023 Rajasthan MLAs 2008–2013