By Abu Zafar, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: In Zakir Nagar ward of South Delhi Municipal Corporation, incumbent Councilor Shoaib Danish managed to retain his seat for the second time but Zia Ur Rahman, accused in Delhi and Ahmadabad blast, came second and lost by just 517 votes.
Shoaib Danish got 8194 votes while Zia Ur Rahman, currently in Sabarmati Jail in Ahmadabad, having 7677 votes, was his nearest rival.
Abdur Rahman holding a campaign poster of his imprisoned son Ziaur Rahman
The voting trend visible in the booth-wise counting showed that Zia Ur Rahman trounced Shoaib Danish and maintained a lead of over 500 votes in Muslim dominated areas of Zakir Nagar, Batla House and Jogabai localities but Shoaib Danish could reverse this lead by showing good performance in mixed localities of Taimoor Nagar and Khizrabad of the ward.
All other candidates except Jitender Kumar of Bahujan Samaj Party, who got 4954 votes, lost their deposits.
Zia Ur Rahman, who was arrested soon after the Batla House encounter in September 2008, contested as an independent candidate from Zakir Nagar constituency of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
A poll campaign banner hanging over a street in Batla House locality of Zakir Nagar ward of MCD
Along with a number of Muslim youths, 22-year-old Zia Ur Rahman, a student of Jamia Millia Islamia, has been charged in several terror cases in Delhi, Ahmadabad and Surat. His arrest in terror cases has been questioned by several community organisations and civil society groups.
His family members and others campaigned for him. Mothers of Mansoor Asghar Peerbhoy and Saquib Nisar, co-accused with Zia Ur Rahman, also campaigned in the locality.
Abdur Rahman, father of Zia Ur Rahman, was also arrested by Delhi Police when he countered claims of Delhi police regarding Batla House “encounter”. However, Abdul Rahman was released after a few months.
Abdul Rahman said, “We have passed through those days when nobody wanted to come to us but due to this election lots of people are now with us especially youngsters, without any fear and greed.”
Supporters of Shoaib Danish celebrating his victory in Zakir Nagar
“Mainly the victims are discarded in society when such things happen. This is a step towards justice. This is the way to communicate to the masses,” Abdur Rahman added.
“Though Ziaur Rahman lost the election but he has made his mark. His impressive performance showed that people believed that Zia Ur Rahman is innocent and they support him massively, said Musharraf Hussain, a local community leader.
Winning candidate Shoaib Danish too empathized with Zia Ur Rahman and had said “I sympathize with Ziaur Rahman and believe that he is innocent but this is not right place for this issue.”
In a bid to counter sympathy wave in favour of Zia Ur Rahman, Shoaib Danish had posed before the voters, the MCD is for local issues like water supply, cleaning, electricity etc. What is the meaning of raising the Batla House encounter issue here?”
Expressing relief over defeat of Zia Ur Rahman, Mohammad Hashim, a shopkeeper of Zakir Nagar area, said that though he did believe that Zia Ur Rahmanwas innocent but did not vote for him because his victory would not have brought him out of jail but would have created further problems for the area.