The problem with BJP MP Satish Gautam and Jinnah’s portrait at AMU

New Delhi, May 24: After winning Lok Sabha elections 2019, the newly-elected BJP lawmaker from Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh constituency, Satish Kumar Gautam of BJP said that his first priority is to "send the portrait of Muhammad Ali Jinnah at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) to Pakistan".

"My first priority will be to send Jinnah's portrait that is locked in a room in Aligarh Muslim University to Pakistan," he said, according to news agency ANI.

"I will also work for the reservation of SC/ST students. "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas" is our motto," he said.

In 2018, Satish Kumar Gautam triggered a controversy when he demanded that the Aligarh Muslim University should remove the portrait of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, an alumnus of the university and creator of Pakistan, from its campus. Questioning its presence on the campus, he said there was no justification for displaying a photo of the man who was responsible for the creation of Pakistan.

AMU defended the portrait, apparently hanging there for decades, saying that Jinnah was a founder member of the University Court and granted life membership of the student union.

Gautam secured 656215 votes defeating BSP candidate Ajeet Baliyan who bagged 426954 votes. BJP had won Aligarh seat five times in a row from 1991 to 2001 in the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress won back this seat in 2004 and lost it to the BSP in 2009.

The BJP, despite the arithmetic advantage of the SP-BSP 'mahagatbandhan' won 64 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats, demolishing the alliance partners, which got 15 seats between them.

The BJP secured the Aligarh seat in 2014 when Satish Kumar Gautam defeated his BSP rival by over 2.87 lakh votes.