Kausar Jahan only second woman to chair Delhi State Haj Committee

In a major setback to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s Kausar Jahan has been elected as the new chairman of the Delhi Haj Committee. It only the second time in the history of the national capital that a woman has been elected to the position of the panel chief. Former Delhi Congress chief Tajdar Babar was the only woman till now to have held this post.

Jahan's selection was controversial since there are rumours that she is tied to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is currently in power.

Ten members of the committee participated in the voting process on Monday to choose the new chairman. Among them were Mohammad Saad and former cricketer Gautam Gambhir, who supported Jahan. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which had anticipated that their nominee would be elected, has been taken aback by this nomination.

She received three of the five votes cast by the committee members in the election held at the Delhi Secretariat.

The committee comprises six members -- two each from the AAP and the BJP, Muslim theology expert Mohammad Saad and Congress councillor Nazia Danish. BJP MP Gautam Gambhir is among the committee members.

Delhi BJP working president Virendra Sachdeva said Jahan's victory shows the growing trust and faith of Muslims in the party.

''Congratulations to Kausar Jahan on being elected as the Delhi Haj Committee chairperson. The victory of the BJP-affiliated candidate in the Delhi Haj Committee makes it clear that now the Muslim community is also eager to join the country's development stream Shri @narendramodi,'' Sachdeva said in a tweet in Hindi.

The three votes received by the BJP-affiliated candidate included those of Gambhir, Saad and Kausar herself.

Danish abstained from voting.

AAP MLAs Abdul Rehman and Haji Yunus are also members of the committee.