The secular alliance did not field any Muslim candidate even in states with a sizeable Muslim population.
Waquar Hasan | Clarion India
NEW DELHI — There is palpable anger and dismay among members and leaders of the Muslim community over the INDIA bloc’s failure to field any Muslim candidate in the Lok Sabha elections in several states despite the presence of a sizeable number of electorates in them.
The bloc, a coalition of over two dozen parties, has not fielded any Muslim candidate in Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Muslims account for around 15 percent of the population in Jharkhand, 12 percent in Maharashtra, 10 percent in Rajasthan and seven percent in Madhya Pradesh.
Madhya Pradesh has not elected a single Muslim Lok Sabha member during the last 33 years while the Congress did not field any minority candidate in the state during the last 15 years.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which had not fielded a single Muslim candidate in the last Lok Sabha elections, has nominated a Muslim in this general election from Kerala’s Malappuram.
In the ongoing Lok Sabha elections in Bihar, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which claims the support base of Muslims and Yadavs, and Congress have fielded two Muslim candidates each even as the Muslim population in the state accounts for around 18 percent.
The discontentment and anger of the community came to the fore in Maharashtra and Jharkhand.
Last week, Arif Naseem Khan, a prominent Muslim leader of the Maharashtra Congress, said that he would not campaign for the party in the Lok Sabha elections because the party has not fielded any Muslim candidate. He asked why the Congress party wants only Muslim votes not candidates.
Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi criticised the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), a component of the INDIA bloc, for not fielding any Muslim candidate from the state calling it “disheartening”.
“It’s disheartening to note that the MVA (INDIA bloc) did not nominate any Muslim candidates out of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. Arif Naseem Khan, a former minister of the INC, was also denied a ticket from the North Central Mumbai Lok Sabha seat after which he resigned,” he said.
Raising the issue of reservation for the community, the Samajwadi Party chief in Maharashtra, said despite previously passing reservation bills, the Congress did not advocate for Muslim reservation during the 30-month MVA tenure. Although the Samajwadi Party requested one seat in Maharashtra, the INC rejected the demand, citing insufficient stake in the state, he said.
“Despite being a major party in Maharashtra, it is a matter of shame that the Congress has failed to accommodate a single Muslim candidate,” he said.
Rights activist, political commentator, and professor at Delhi University Apoorvanand also expressed his concern on similar lines over the absence of Muslim candidates.
“This is what Muslims are asked to accept: you can vote but do not think of representing the people or the country,” he said.
Commenting on the resignation of Khan, Imtiaz Jaleel, the AIMIM lawmaker who is the only Muslim MP from Maharashtra, asked the Congress leader to resign from the party and contest the election on AIMIM ticket.
“Why resign just as a star campaigner? Ideally, you should have resigned from the party that simply wants Muslim votes but not their leadership. But anyways Arif Bhai why don’t you contest the election on the AIMIM ticket which we are ready to offer to you in Mumbai. This is a good deal, show some guts and grab the opportunity,” said Jaleel, a Lok Sabha member from Aurangabad.
Earlier, a Congress legislator in Jharkhand, Dr. Irfan Ansari, criticised the slogan “there should be an equal share for a community according to its population (Jitni aabadi utna haq)” raised by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by citing the absence of Muslim candidates fielded by INDIA bloc in the state.
“I had to face a lot of anger from the workers. The big leader of the state misled the high command and snatched away a Muslim seat, due to which there is a lot of anger. @RahulGandhi ji had said that the more the population, the more the participation. But those with a population of only 1%, 2%, and 4% got four tickets and those with a population of 18% got four tickets but did not get even one. What kind of justice is this? Please rethink about this,” said Ansari.
Talking about the Rajasthan situation, senior Congress leader Amin Khan, a Cabinet minister in the Ashok Gehlot-led government said: “Muslim community, which has always stood strong with the Congress… is feeling betrayed and marginalised. They have been neglected even in the distribution of tickets for the Lok Sabha elections. The party leadership is urged to address this issue promptly to avoid significant damage to the party in the elections.”
