Who Is Razia Sultana? Three-Time MLA Quits As Punjab Cabinet Minister

Who is Razia Sultana: Member of Legislative Assembly in Punjab, Razia Sultana has quite the state cabinet showing solidarity with Navjot Singh Sindhu, who tendered his resignation on Tuesday as state Congress President. Sultana is the lone Muslim MLA in Punjab Vidhan Sabha. On September 28, Sultana sent her resignation to Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Channi, while promising to still work for the party.

Razia Sultana's resignation came a few hours after she was given water supply and sanitation, social security, printing and stationery, women and child development departments in the new cabinet under Channi's government.

SO PROUD OF MY WIFE RAZIA SULTANA FOR HER PRINCIPLED DECISION TO RESIGN IN THE BEST INTEREST OF CONG AND ITS LEADERSHIP, ON PARTICULAR RAHUL GANDHI, OUR BENEFACTOR pic.twitter.com/XuNZtFyuG5

— MOHD MUSTAFA, FORMER IPS (@MohdMustafaips) September 28, 2021

Under the previous government, Razia Sultana was the Cabinet Minister for transport.

"The collapse of a man's character stems from the compromise corner, I can never compromise on Punjab's future and the agenda for the welfare of Punjab. Therefore, I hereby resign as the president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. Will continue to serve the Congress," Sidhu said in his resignation letter to Sonia Gandhi.

Along with Sultana, three other cabinet ministers--Gulzar Inder Chahal, Yogindra Dhingra, Gautam Seth--resigned leaving the government in limbo. Interestingly, Sultana's husband and retired IPS officer, Mohammed Mustafa was Sidhu's chief strategic adviser

Who is Razia Sultana?

Sultana is a three-time Congress MLA from the town of Malerkotla in Punjab, who has been appointed as a state Cabinet Minister twice. She first won from her constituency in 2002, followed by 2007 and 2017. In a 2012 poll, she lost to a candidate fielded by Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which is the second oldest party in India after Congress. Sultana lost to Farzana Alam alias Nizara F Khatoon.

In the 2017 polls, Sultana defeated her brother Arshad Dali, the candidate for Aad Aadmi Party (AAP) and Mohammad Owais, the candidate for SAD from Malerkotla.

Sultana joined politics in the early 2000s. In 2019 January, Sultana dedicated 'Sakhi, One-Stop Centre' established within the Civic Hospital at Mohali, for providing relief to survivours who have been subjected to violence against women. The centres were to provide emergency medical services to the surviours, alongside legal support and guidance.

Sultana is married to former IPS officer Mohammad Mustafa who is said to be a close advisor of Sidhu.

Suggested Reading:

5 Times Indian Women Politicians Took On Sexism With Spunk

Why Doesn’t Rural India Vote Women Politicians To Power?

Indian Women Politicians Face 10,000 Abusive Tweets Per Day: Study

Also Trending: