Vijayawada: For the first time, a Muslim woman, Mayana Jakiya Khanam, has been elected unanimously as deputy chairperson of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council. She is from Rayachoti in Kadapa district.
Legislative council chairman Koyye Moshenu Raju oversaw the election on Friday. Chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy escorted her to the podium of the council along with ministers and MLCs.
The CM said, “I am happy to see my elder sister Jakiya Khanam as deputy chairperson of the council. Though she hails from an ordinary family and is a homemaker, she showed her strengths as an MLC and now she is the deputy chairperson.”
“This is a message to all women. We want them to grow socially, politically and financially. Our government has been making all efforts in this direction in the last two-and-half-years. I feel happy as God has given me this opportunity and I wish her good luck.”
Mayana Khanam thanked the chief minister for giving this opportunity to a Muslim woman. “I am sure all Muslims in the state felt happy about this.”
Mayana turned emotional while thanking the CM for giving her the opportunity to be MLC and now as its deputy chairperson. She vowed to discharge her duty in ways that would justify the trust that the Chief
Minister has reposed in her.
She said, “I have never seen a chief minister like YS Jaganmohan Reddy who showed such a commitment to the cause of women empowerment.”
MLCs congratulated the deputy chairperson and opined that the honour that went to a Muslim woman here was a fitting tribute to the Constitution of India on the anniversary of its adoption on November 29, 1949.
They also said the AP government had sent a loud message to the nation that women are being given prominence in all fields of life.
