The defeat of a large number of Muslim candidates fielded by the Congress in the just concluded assembly elections, even in Muslim-dominated constituencies, has opened a new political arithmetic, where the community could no longer be seen consolidating against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or voting only for community members.
The elections also witnessed the lowest representation of Muslims -- two in Rajasthan, both from BJP; one in Madhya Pradesh, five in Delhi and none from Chhattisgarh.
In Rajasthan, Habiburrahman Ashrafi from the BJP won from Nagore, despite the Congress fielding another Muslim, Shaukat Ali, who even lost his deposit.
An independent candidate and Congress rebel, Harendra Mirdha, finished second.
In nearby Deedwana, Yunus Khan of the BJP trounced the Congress’ Jat nominee Chetan Choudhary. The only conclusion drawn from their victories is that Muslims, in these constituencies, preferred the BJP over the Congress.
The cases of Shanti Dhariwal from Kota (North) and Rajendra Pareek (Sikar) present a clear shift of Muslim voters from the Congress to the BJP. In Sikar, where Muslim votes count around 70,000, Congress stalwart Rajendra Pareek lost to a relatively lightweight BJP candidate Ratan Lal Jaldhari.
A social worker and a new comer in politics, Wahid Chauhan, who contested as a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate, polled 40,000 votes.
The Congress’ satrap in the Hadoti region, Shanti Dhariwal’s defeat in the Muslim-dominated constituency of Kota (North) is illustrative of the Muslim thinking going on in the Muslim community.
Another significant development came from the Tijara constituency in Alwar, where health minister Aimaduddin Ahmed Khan Durru Mian came third.
Another important political takeaway is that Muslims have rejected parachuted candidates. The convincing defeats of Zakia Imam from Tonk and Danish Abrar from Sawai Madhopur, both of whom stood third, prove this.
Madhya Pradesh, however, maintained status quo in its Muslim representation as only one Muslim, Arif Aqeel from the Congress, got elected. Four other Muslim candidates of the Congress gave notable fights, but lost in the end to BJP rivals. In Madhya Pradesh, Muslims form 6.5% of the population.
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