The Godfather of Carnatic political wisdom.
The present senior leader in the All India Congress(I) party, CM Ibrahim’s innate diplomacy and his proficiency in delivering eloquent speeches with a command of governance were rooted way back to his tender teenage years. Born in a neighboring Dharward district, his involvement in political gatherings and campaigns at such a young age gave him an exposure to exhibit his gift of the gab that eventually gained the attention of the delegates. And this statesmanship quality plunged him into the Indian National Congress after finishing the school period under the mentorship of Veerendra Patil, former CM of Karnataka. From then, he became an active all-rounder of Veerendra Patil who selected Ibrahim to be his ‘Muslim mascot’. By 1970, he was elevated to the post of the convener of the state youth congress and played an indispensable role in the election campaign for the congress in the state-the first step into Karnataka politics.
Political Accomplishments
The 1978 Karnataka state legislative assembly election from the Shivaji Nagar constituency was his first political milestone, winning him a seat in the election. By then he had shifted to the Janatha Parivar alliance and was the general secretary of state Janatha party. In 1980, when the URS government collapsed, late Shri Gundu Rao became the then CM of Karnataka and under him, Ibrahim was given the important portfolio of food and civil supplies, labor, and small-scale industries, making him the youngest cabinet minister of Karnataka at the 31. Under this designation and ministry, Ibrahim initiated a comprehensive strategy to fix-up the remuneration scale of the Pesh-Imam and Mouzanns of the mosques, which subsequently won the Supreme Court’s verdict. With Veerendra Patil becoming the chief minister of Karnataka in 1990, Ibrahim was appointed as the chairman of the Karnataka State Minorities Commission. However, with the Patil’s renunciation as chief minister, Ibrahim stepped out from the chairmanship.
Post the abdication, he focused on ensuring and promoting communal harmony in the state. The movements held under his leadership enthralled, for the first time, the Hindu community to abide by reserving the rights for minorities and Muslims. Ibrahim could win over the confidence of not only the muslim leaders but also the non-muslim leaders to align and stand united to raise voice over the communal-civil protests sprouting in the state. As a further step on eliminating the atrocities on muslims during the congress regime, he associated the interest to seek the corporation of the Janatha Dal party. This collaborative effort gave a fruitful victory of winning 115 seats in the elections held for Assembly, under his vice presidency in Jantha Dal, and later made him president of the party. His idealism and principles have provided a momentous impetus for many young educated Muslims to make an entry to Karnataka politics. The advocacy and preaching of peaceful co-existence played a pivotal role in establishing communal harmony during his govern as president of the Janatha Dal party.
Another stepping stone embarked in 1996 when Ibrahim was nominated as a member of parliament (Rajya Sabha) from Karnataka state till 2002. With the title of union minister of Civil Aviation, Information and Broadcasting, and Tourism, during his tenure, several reforms in the Civil Aviation sector were initiated resulting in a gain of profit for Air India and Indian Airlines for the first time in the history of India.
Now Mr, C.M Ibrahim is a senior leader in the Congress Party and Member of the Legislative Council in Karnataka State since October 2017 and is presently rendering his services as the deputy chairman, state planning board, Government of Karnataka.