At least 10 BJP politicians from the party have been appointed as as independent directors on the boards of top public sector companies, reports IE. The appointments were made by the NDA’s Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).

The list of politicians goes like this: Delhi unit vice president Shazia Ilmi; Gujarat IT cell convenor Rajika Kacheria; minority face of the BJP in Gujarat Asifa Khan; former BJP MLA candidate from Odisha Surama Padhy and former Bihar MLC Kiran Ghai Sinha.

They will be on the boards of Navaratna PSUs that include Engineers India Ltd (EIL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) and the National Aluminium Company Ltd (NALCO).

These names are among the 83 people who were cleared by ACC for PSUs under 14 ministries and departments

Delhi unit vice president Shazia Ilmi has been appointed as an independent director in Engineers India Ltd (EIL). Ilmi is a graduate from Jamia Millia Islamia University. While Rajika Kacheria, a cosmetologist, will be the independent director of the Cotton Corporation of India Ltd.

The list also includes retired IAS officers, former heads of state-owned companies, and academicians from institutes like IITs and IIMs.

Many of these appointees apart from​Rajika Kacheria, Kiran Ghai Sinha, Malathi Rani have said that they have not received any such communication from the government or the party about being made independent directors in PSUs.

The UPA during its regime too had appointed its leaders in PSUs.