AIMC want Congress to field 10-15 Muslim candidates

The All India Milli Council (AIMC), a Muslim organisation, wants the Congress to field 10 to 15 of its community members as candidates in the upcoming state Assembly polls.

The executive committee of the AIMC's Gujarat unit met in Ahmedabad on Sunday and passed a resolution demanding 10–15 tickets for Muslim candidates from the Opposition Congress, which has been out of power in the state since 1995.

"Muslims account for about 10% of Gujarat's population, and we feel that the Congress should give tickets to Muslim candidates in proportion to the community's population. The executive committee passed a resolution saying that 10-15 tickets should be given to Muslims in the elections," Mufti Rizwan Tarapuri, the Council's president in Gujarat, said.

In the last Assembly elections in 2012, the Congress had fielded seven Muslim candidates, of whom five lost. Mohammed Javid Pirzada and Gyasuddin Sheikh are the only two Muslim MLAs in the state.

Abdulhafiz Lakhani, general secretary of the Council's Gujarat unit, said that there were 12 to 15 seats, including Vejalpur, Jamalpur, Bharuch, Mangrol, among others, where Muslim voters are sizeable.

"We want at least eight to 10 MLAs to be Muslims from the present two," Lakhani said, adding that if the Congress doesn't oblige, the community will support other parties.

With Assembly elections nearing, all communities are gearing up to demand their share from political parties. Brahmin bodies have already demanded higher representation in ticket allocation, while Patels, Dalits and Other Backward Classes are pressing for more tickets.