E. Ahamed returns to MEA after two years
By IANSWednesday, January 19, 2011
NEW DELHI - After a gap of two years, E. Ahamed is back in the Ministry of External Affairs, where he had spent five years in the first term of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
He was one of the several ministers of state whose portfolios were reshuffled Wednesday.
Representing Malappuram parliamentary constituency, Ahamed, 72, is a member of UPA ally Muslim League Kerala State Committee, which has sent two members to Lok Sabha from the southern state.
He had been minister of state in MEA from May 2004 till the end of the first tenure of the UPA government. Ahamed had been given the portfolio of the Gulf region, among others, where he had good relations with several of the regional leaders.
A law graduate, he had come into the limelight during efforts towards the successful release of three Indian workers kidnapped in Iraq in 2004. With a proficiency in Arabic, he had made televised appearances on key Arab channels to appeal for the release of the three Indians.
After being sent to the railway ministry, Ahamed is said to have been unhappy with Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee over allocation of work.
