Home India Politics Rebellion against the Congress nominee in Dhule-Malegaon Parliamentary constituency imminent

Rebellion against the Congress nominee in Dhule-Malegaon Parliamentary constituency imminent

By Umeed.com,

Malegaon: Angered by the Congress High Command’s decision to deny its leader the Party ticket for the Dhule-Malegaon Parliamentary Constituency, disgruntled Congress party workers burnt the effigy of the party nominee in the full daylight and urged the Party High Command to change its decision.

Congress High Command after weeks of deliberations finally gave the party ticket to Shirpur veteran Amrishbhai Patel for Dhule-Malegaon Parliament seat which will go to polls on April 23. The decision angered the supporters of another political heavyweight Rohidas Patil who was also seeking the party ticket from the same constituency. His supporters are still pressurizing the High Command to change its decision.

The decision angered the party workers so much that they are suggesting Rohidas Patil to fight the election as an independent candidate if Congress High Command did not accept their demand. “We have no personal grudge or enmity against Amrishbhai Patel. The fact is that he is a sitting MLA from Shirpur which is not in our constituency. So why Congress gave party ticket to an outsider when there are other deserving and equally powerful leaders demanding for the party ticket?” asks Kamlesh Patil, a party worker based in Dhule.

Ironically the supporters of Rohidas Patil are not alone in disapproving the Congress decision to field Amrishbahi Patel as its party candidate. Amid mounting pressure on Cong-NCP High Commands by Mumbai Ulemas to field Muslim candidates in five Muslim-majority constituencies in Maharashtra, the Muslims in Malegaon and Dhule led by a section of Ulemas are now gearing up to oppose the Congress candidate to express their anger. Aabid Sardar, a Dhule Congress leader was seeking the party ticket from this constituency which has over 30% Muslim population.

The expectations were rife among the Muslims in Malgaon-Dhule ever since delimitation of the Parliamentary constituencies as the two Maharashtra towns dominated by the Muslim weavers since Independence were part of two separate parliamentary constituencies reserved for Scheduled Cast and Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST). The delimitation committee not only merged the two towns into a single Parliamentary Constituency but also converted it into an open seat. “The decision generated the hope that at least now Dhule and Malegaon would be in a position to send a candidate from their community who is aware of the local problems lying unnoticed since last sixty years”, says Dr. Iqbal Ansari. “But the Congress decision has shattered our hopes once again”, he added.

The Congress decision to field Amrishbahi Patel as its official candidate is proving helpful to the Third Front candidate Nehal Ahmed. Janata Dal (Secular) one of the key constituents of the Third Front has fielded Former Minister Nehal Ahmed from this Parliamentary constituency, among the five seats in Maharashtra that Muslim leaders think can elect a Muslim MP. “Dhule-Malegaon parliamentary constituency has an estimated 3,38,000 Muslim voters and the demand for a Muslim candidate is not unjustified “, says Ismail Ansari, a social activist adding, “It is strange that the Congress which did not leave any opportunity to project itself as a Muslim Patriarch failed to concede to our justified demand. Against this backdrop it will not be surprising if majority of the Muslim population extend their supports to Nehal Ahmed.” Of the 3,38,000 Muslim voters, Malegaon alone has 2,40,000 Muslims, most of them being the weavers.