Lucknow, Feb 6 (IANS): The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday constituted the state minorities commission and named senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Tanveer Ahmad Usmani as its chairman, an official said.

Governor Ram Naik approved the name of Usmani for heading the Uttar Pradesh State Minorities Commission after it was recommended by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Sixty-two-year-old Usmani has been thrice the national president of the minority wing of the BJP and thrice member of its national executive. He comes from Kanpur and at present is a member of the executive council of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).

Eight other members have also been appointed by the state government. They include Sukhdarshan Bedi from Muzaffarnagar, Suresh Jain Rituraj from Meerut, Manoj Kumar Masih from Budayun, Kunwar Syyed Iqbal Haider from Lucknow, Kunwar Afzaal Chowdhary (Ghaziabad), Mohammad Aslam (Fatehpur), Sophia Ahmad (Kanpur) and Rumana Siddiqui from Lucknow.

Sofia Ahmed, a triple talaq victim, joined the BJP around a year back. She is also one of the petitioners challenging the instant divorce practice in the Supreme Court.