The nomination of Zafar Jaweed as the next chairman of the state Haj Committee is 'almost' a surety.
'Almost', since Jaweed's nomination hinges on Pradesh Congress Committee president D Srinivas, who is keen to see his nominee Mohammed Habeeb Ahmed as the next Chairman.
According to highly-placed sources, there are now only two contenders for the post, since former minister Mohammed Ali Shabbir has managed to convince Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajagopal to persuade his nominee former Mayor (Vijayawada) Mallika Begum to withdraw her name.
Ahmedullah has already succumbed to media pressure, and has refrained himself from pushing for his favourite Jaber Patel to the post. He had been
postponing the Haj Committee meetings in order to convince the Haj Committee members to nominate Patel.
The new Chairman will be selected on September 27th at the first meeting of the present State Haj Committee, which was notified on August 16th with 16 members.
Media reports have also had the effect of Chief Minister K Rosaiah directing Principal Secretary (Minority Welfare) Lingaraj Panigrahi to ensure that the new Chairman of the Haj Committee and the state Wakf Board are elected before the end of the month.
Following the Chief Minister's directive, Panigrahi nominated Minority Welfare Deputy Secretary G Mahmood Miyan as the Election Officer for the state Haj Committee.
Whoever gets elected as the next Haj Committee Chairman has a huge task in his hands, since only 3 weeks remain for the first Haj Camp to be organised.
Courtesy: INN