Former Lok Sabha member HT Sangliana will take over as the vice-chairman of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) on Tuesday. The Union Government, in an extraordinary gazette notification on Monday, announced the appointment of Sangliana for the post. He will work under Mohammed Qureshi, who leads the panel.
Known as the supercop of Karnataka, Sangliana carries with him substantial knowledge of policing and judicial processes and by virtue of being an ex-MP is also aware of social realities of the country. He is the first Christian leader from the North-East to assume the position at the NCM.
Sangliana was informed of his immediate appointment only on Monday morning. He told DNA that his priorities would be to help channel benefits meant for the uplift of all the communities to which the Constitution has accorded minority status. Sangliana has drawn up a list of works to be done at the Commission.
His maiden entry into politics on the BJP label did not last long and he was sacked by the party after he voted with the ruling Congress-led UPA on the nuclear treaty with the US. In the last general elections, Sangliana fought from Bangalore Central on a Congress ticket but lost to the BJP. Since then he has been in a political limbo.
