For Gujarati Muslims peace is more important, political empowerment comes much later
Abdul Hafiz Lakhani | Caravan Daily
AHMEDABAD — The voting pattern of Gujarati Muslim electors was not really different in the 2017 Gujarat assembly elections from last time they voted. There was a decline in the percentage of Muslims polling. The voting percentage of the community was down to 3.58 per cent against the 3.61 per cent. The percentage plummeted down further when compared with 2012. Muslim voting percentage spiralled down from 2012’s 72.17 per cent in 2012 to 68.59 per cent.
With at least 34 constituencies having a sizeable Muslim population comprising 15 per cent number. State wise, Muslims comprise about nine per cent of the total population of Gujarat. And it should be noted that Muslims play a major role on deciding the fate of the candidates of Jamalpur-Khadiya (61.28%); Danilimda (48%), Dariapur (46.23%) and Vagra (44%).
However, it was in these regions that there was a steep decline in the voting percentage. Muslim voting in Dariapur was down by 5.93 per cent this year, while polling at Jamalpur witnessed a dip by 3.28 per cent. In constituencies like Vagra and Danilimda, the decline in turnout among Muslim voters is slight over one per cent. The Congress party had fielded Muslims candidates in three of these four seats. (Danilimda seat was reserved for Scheduled Caste candidate.) Some minority-dominated areas in the Old City as well as Tandalja witnessed good voting.
“Overall, the importance of the Muslim electorate is in specific constituencies like those of Ahmedabad, Surat, Banaskantha and Junagadh. So in a way it is influential in pockets. However, the Muslim population is so dispersed in other areas that it does not have a dominant impact,” said Amit Dholakia, professor of political science at Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara.
He then added, “In this election, no party has made a visible outreach to the minority community, the Congress, in particular. The only one who has spoken about it is (Dalit activist) Jignesh Mevani but that too in just one constituency.”
Many voters maintained that they voted for better governance and education. “I hope that the party that comes to power works for the poor. Price rise is a major issue. The government should take steps to reduce the prices and also provide more employment opportunities,” said Naseem Bano, a resident of Baranpura. Muslims are seen as supporters of the Congress but the party leadership, especially its president-elect Rahul Gandhi, faced allegations of peddling soft Hindutva as he had visited at least 27 temples during his election campaign. He never uttered the word ‘Muslim’ in the public speeches he delivered across Gujarat.
According to the 2011 census, Muslims comprises the biggest minority in Gujarat with a 9.65 per cent of the population. Despite this high representation, only two Muslims were elected as MLAs in the state assembly elections in 2012.
Considering that Gujarat has 182 assembly seats, and a high percentage of the population is Muslim, there should have been more MLAs from the community. However, over the years, their numbers have only shrunk.
Bharatiya Janata Party – which has been in power in Gujarat for last two decades – has shown little interest in being inclusive towards the Muslims. BJP fielded only one Muslim candidate in the Assembly elections, in the year 1998. In the state assembly polls in 2012 or even before 2007 and 2002, BJP fielded no Muslim MLA candidates.
Things weren’t different during the Congress era either. In the 1985 Assembly elections, the Congress won a record of 149 out of the 182 seats. However, at that time too, the number of Muslims MLAs in the Gujarat Vidhan Sabha was merely seven.
About low voting percentage of Muslims, Usama memon, an Engineering student said, “For us representation is not very important in Assembly. we want good education and our security. Political empowerment comes in the second stage.” He then added, “There is less education among youth. And higher education is becoming costly. Most of us are employed in small businesses. But post 2002, there has been good awareness in the community and we are looking ahead to the future than getting into the communal politics.” He maintained that the primary need for the community is not political representation, but peace. “As a result of prolonged communal peace, we have eight girls with engineering degrees and six CAs in our locality in the past 12 years. We don’t want this scenario to be affected,” he summed up.
