The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday, August 17, announced its new national executive team, which includes two Muslim faces in key positions under party president Nitin Nabin.
Tariq Mansoor has retained his position as the national vice president, while Kunwar Basit Ali has been appointed as the national minority morcha chief.
The organisational reshuffle has drawn attention, with Mansoor and Ali’s positions standing out as a distinct move to reach out to the Muslim community.
Mansoor and his relationship with the Sangh
Born in Aligarh, the 70-year-old academic previously served as the Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and is currently a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council. His association with the BJP makes him the first serving or former AMU Vice-Chancellor to enter electoral politics through the party.
Mansoor belongs to the Pasmanda Muslim community, also categorised as Other Backward Class (OBC), which the BJP has been eyeing to win support from.
He first joined the BJP in 2023, and with the 2026 reshuffle, his inclusion has given the party a recognised Muslim face with an extensive academic background.
A senior functionary told ThePrint that Mansoor fits into BJP’s broader plan to connect with Pasmanda Muslims.
“Mansoor’s elevation as national vice-president again underlines the party’s importance attached to him as a Muslim face, particularly at a time when the party is seeking to expand its outreach among sections of the Muslim community, particularly liberals and Pasmandas,” the functionary said.
Mansoor is widely known for maintaining close ties with senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and BJP leaders. He went to an RSS event at the Red Fort in May, where RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat was present. His close ties to senior Sangh and BJP leaders are frequently noted in political circles.
Kunwar Basit Ali: From 2011 to now
Kunwar Basit Ali, 40 years old, began his career in the BJP in 2011 as a Mandal Adhyaksh of the Minority Morcha in UP. A resident of Kayastha Badda village in Meerut, he rose through the ranks by later becoming the district media in-charge, then the district president of the BJP Minority Morcha in 2012.
He was also appointed as the regional coordinator of the Muslim Rashtriya Manch. Ali now serves as the BJP’s national minority morcha chief.
He has vocally supported the party, while remaining active in his grassroots-level outreach to Muslims. He has promoted several campaigns of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s, including the “Modi Mitra” initiative and yoga programmes in madrasas.
Ali became widely recognised around 2023 when the UP Minority Morcha put together Modi’s ‘Mann Ki Baat‘ radio sessions into an Urdu-language book. As part of the party’s outreach to Muslim voters, the Minority Morcha compiled the addresses and titled the book “Wazir-e-Azam Ali Janab Narendra Modi ke Mann Ki Baat Urdu Ke Saath.”
It is a 150-page book that brought together 12 episodes of the radio programme. Ali at the time said the initiative was aimed at sections of Muslim society that remained disconnected from Modi and the party.
