By A. Mirsab, TwoCircles.net,
Mumbai: Muslim population in Maharashtra is around 11% of the state’s population and there are some areas in the state which have considerable presence of Muslim community. Bhiwandi, Malegaon, Dhule, Nagpur, Akola, Nanded, Parbhani, Aurangabad, Ahmednagar, parts of Konkan and some Mumbai constituencies have sizable Muslim voters. But currently they do not have a single MP in the parliament from Maharashtra. This has become a matter of concern for the states’ Muslims.
During upcoming Lok Sabha elections Muslim voters in Maharashtra have to vote in a strategic manner so that they help to elect at least one Muslim MP and at the same time they have to be cautious that their votes are not divided so that the communal forces, specifically Shiv Sena and BJP might not get benefit in overall vote count.
But what is more devastating for states’ Muslims is that there are very few Muslim candidates running for the Lok Sabha across the state. The Congress has given ticket to only one Muslim candidate, Hidayat Patel, from Akola in Vidarbha. Other major parties – NCP, Shiv Sena and the BJP – have no Muslim candidate. Although Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party has given tickets to six Muslim candidates , Ansari Nihal (Dhule), Muhammad Alim Patel (Wardha), Jalaluddin Ansari (Bhiwandi), Phiroze Palkiwala( Mumbai NC), Deepali Sayed (Ahmednagar) and Sameena Khan (Sangli).
If AAP Muslim candidates are excluded, the figures are not changed in 2014 because in 2009 elections as well, there was only one Muslim Candidate – A.R. Antulay who could not win and hence there was not a single Muslim MP in the parliament from Maharashtra. To compensate this loss, Congress had given Rajya Sabha seat to Husain Dalwai.
In a bid to woo Muslim voters, however, the NCP and the Congress had both recently sent one Muslim leader each to the Rajya Sabha. Congress re nominated Husain Dalwai whereas NCP nominated well known criminal lawyer from Mumbai Majeed Memon to the Rajya Sabha.
The Samajwadi Party (SP), which has three members in the state assembly, has also fielded seven Muslims out of its total 22 candidates in the state. Making the worry of Muslims open and not to face the same melancholy as like after 2009 polls, President of SP Maharashtra Abu Asim Azmi on Saturday has asked the Congress party to ensure at least one Muslim from the state wins in the Lok Sabha elections and in return he would withdraw all SP candidates from the state.
Congress has not yet replied to the SP’s offer because it is obvious that if Congress agrees then it will have to modify its already released candidates list and will have to replace them with Muslim faces – Amin Patel and Naseem Khan or Baba Siddique, which the SP demands in withdrawing all its candidates from the state.