Meet sole Muslim face in BJP LS list so far: Controversial ex-VC of Calicut Univ

M ABDUL Salam enjoys a unique distinction in the BJP’s 195-candidate list released last week, as the sole Muslim face to be nominated by the party.

A former vice-chancellor of Calicut University in Kerala, Salam, a Ph.D, was seen as a choice of Congress ally Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) for the post in 2011, when the UDF was in power in the state.

The BJP has nominated him from the Muslim-dominated Malappuram seat, where he will take on the IUML’s E T Muhammed Basheer and the CPI(M)’s V Vaseef.

Salam said he was honoured to be the only Muslim to feature in the BJP’s first list. Admitting the task ahead of him was tough, he said: “I heard about my candidature from the news. The party in Malappuram has been supportive and is working hard for me.”

A reputed agricultural scientist, Salam has been with the BJP since 2019, when its Kerala unit was helmed by P S Sreedharan Pillai, as part of the party’s drive to induct more minority faces in its fold. He was then elevated to the position of national vice-president of the BJP’s Minority Morcha.

In the 2021 Assembly elections in Kerala, Salam had contested and lost from Tirur to the IUML’s Kurukkoli Moideen, polling only 5.33% of the votes.

The Malappuram constituency has been a stronghold of the IUML, both in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, with the BJP’s A P Abdullakutty emerging third last time.

While his resume is illustrious, talking about his work as a scientist and consultant in 15 countries, Salam’s tenure as the vice-chancellor of Calicut University was tumultuous. He had faced protests by the students, faculty and non-teaching staff of the university, and was especially at loggerheads with the CPI(M)-affiliated student unions.

At the height of the protests in 2014, a