Abdul Rehman Antulay

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Abdul Rehman Antulay
Abdul Rehman Antulay

Constituency Kolaba

Born 9 February 1929 (1929-02-09) (age 79)
Raigad, Maharashtra
Political party INC
Spouse Nargis Antulay
Children 1 son and 3 daughters
Residence Raigad
As of September 16, 2006
Source: [1]

Abdul Rehman Antulay (born February 9, 1929[1]) is a member of the 14th Lok Sabha, Union Minister of Minority Affairs of India, and a former Chief Minister of the state of Maharashtra, India. He is the Congress MP representing the Kolaba constituency of Maharashtra. He is credited with taking a proactive role in establishment of Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers, an Indian public sector company at Alibag, the main town in his constituency.

Antulay was a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from 1962 to 1976, during which time he served in the Maharashtra state government as Minister of State for Law and Judiciary, Ports and Fisheries and then as Minister of Law & Judiciary, Building, Communication and Housing from October 1969 to February 1976. He was a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1976 to 1980; in 1980, he was again elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and served as Chief Minister of Maharashtra from June 1980 to January 1982. He remained in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly until 1989, when he was elected to the 9th Lok Sabha; he was re-elected to the 10th Lok Sabha in 1991. From June 1995 to May 1996, he was Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, and from February to May 1996 he was additionally in charge of Water Resources. In 1996 he was re-elected to the 11th Lok Sabha, and in 2004 he was elected to the 14th Lok Sabha. He has been Union Minister of Minority Affairs since January 29, 2006.[1]

[edit] Controversies

He resigned as Chief Minister of Maharashtra after the Bombay High Court convicted him of extortion on January 13, 1982. The court ruled that Antulay had illegally required Bombay area builders to make donations to Indira Gandhi Pristhan trust, one of several trust funds he had established and controlled, in exchange for receiving more cement than the quota allotted to them by the Government.[2]

After the 2006 Mumbai train bombings news reports suggested that, during a Indian Cabinet meeting Antulay had talked about a "mysterious" blast in Nanded in Maharashtra this April believed by Arjun Singh and Antulay to have been organised by Hindus posing as Muslims. This statement implied that Hindu groups faked terrorist attacks and blamed them routinely on Muslims.[3] Apparently this prompted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to urge the Ministers to refrain from raising “divisive issues” in the Cabinet before bringing them to his attention. [4]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

Preceded by
Sharad Pawar
Chief Minister of Maharashtra
1980–1982
Succeeded by
Babasaheb Bhosale


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