Explained: How BJP won seats in areas with significant Muslim populations

The BJP’s sweeping victory in Gujarat is made even more impressive by the fact that it won 17 of 19 Assembly seats with significant Muslim populations. The Congress, meanwhile, won the other two seats. Let’s take a closer look: The Congress’ Imran Khedawala is the only Muslim candidate elected to the Gujarat Assembly from the Jamalpur-Khadia seat. Khedawala is the sitting Congress MLA from Jamalpur-Khadia. As per Hindustan Times, the Congress gave tickets to six Muslim candidates this time, while the AAP fielded three. The AIMIM, with 11, had the highest number of Muslim candidates. The BJP, meanwhile, has not fielded a Muslim candidate for the polls since 1998. Prior to the polls, a senior BJP leader told Hindustan Times the party’s prime consideration is “winnability”. “We don’t discriminate as far as our programmes and policy is concerned. If a Muslim family is eligible for the PM Awas Yojna or the Mudra scheme, does anyone deny it to them on the basis of their religion? So, what should matter more, representation that is symbolic or services?” he asked. Independents galore, AIMIM falls flat As per The Quint, many such areas that are dominated by Muslims saw multiple candidates fielded – many of them running as Independents. In Limbayat, which had 36 different Muslim candidates, the BJP’s Sangitaben Rajendra Patil emerged victorious with more than 52 per cent of the vote share. As per NDTV, the BJP also prevailed in Dariapur, a Muslim-dominated seat that the Congress had held for 10 years.

As per Outlook, the BJP also won in Surat East, Bapungar and Bhuj.

In Surat East, where Muslims make up 26.4 per cent of voters, BJP’s sitting MLA Arvind Shantilal Rana prevailed. The AIMIM, which fielded Wasim Ikbalbhai Kokhkar, made very little impact. In Bapungar, BJP’s candidate Dineshsinh Rajendrasinh Kushwaha already has garnered around 51 per cent votes. Bhuj, where Muslims comprise nearly 15 per cent of the populace, saw Kehsubhai Shivdas Patel win with a massive margin, as per Outlook. Meanwhile, Chandrasinh Raulji, the BJP candidate who described the Bilkis Bano rapists as “Sanskari Brahmins”, won from Godhra. The BJP government in Gujarat released all the 11 people convicted for the rape of a pregnant Bilkis Bano and murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots, under its remission policy. The convicts in the Bilkis Bano case were welcomed with sweets and garlands after they stepped out of the Godhra sub-jail in Gujarat after 15 years. In August, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the release of the convicts in the Bilkis Bano case and said the entire country is seeing the difference between his words and deeds. He asked what message is being sent out to the women of the country through such decisions. “Those who raped a five-month pregnant woman and killed her three-year-old daughter were released during ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’. What message is being given to the women of the country by those who peddle lies about ‘Nari Shakti’? “Prime Minister ji, the entire country is seeing the difference between your words and deeds,” Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi. While the Congress had made much of the release of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano and the comments of the six-time MLA from Godhra, it didn’t pay off. In November, Union home minister Amit Shah controversially claimed the 2002 Gujarat rioters were taught a lesson and thereby ensured lasting peace in the state. A day later, AII India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi slammed Shah and reminded him that power does not stay with anyone forever and his “lessons” were in reality about letting “criminals walk free”. [caption id=“attachment_11100661” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi. ANI[/caption] “Power will never be with any one person. One day, power will be snatched from everyone. Drunk on power, the Home Minister is today saying that we taught a lesson. What lesson did you teach? You became notorious in the entire country. What lesson did you teach that there were communal riots in Delhi?” Owaisi said. As per The Quint, the AIMIM’s candidates were unable to make a difference in any of the seats – getting less votes than the winning margin – and thus putting paid to allegations that it was cutting into the Muslim votes..

While its best performance came in Bhuj, that was still less than the BJP’s winning margin.

As per Hindustan Times, the AIMIM in Gujarat is viewed with suspicion and dubbed the “BJP’s B-team”. Afroz Alam, head of the political science department at the Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad, told the newspaper, “It is crystal clear that the AIMIM does not contest to get the votes of the Muslim community, but to mobilise the votes of the non-Muslims. Barring the 1946 election (provincial election), when the Muslims voted for the Muslim League, or in some cases in Assam and Kerala for a Muslim party, the community does not vote for a predominantly Muslim party.” BJP dismisses Congress accusations The Congress in the lead up to the polls accused the BJP of propping up Muslim candidates as Independents to divide the community’s votes. As per The Times of India, Gopal Patil, a Congress party candidate in Limbayat, claimed, “The BJP has sponsored Muslim independent candidates to eat into our votes. In 2012, when the competition was less, there were just a few minority candidates. This time with the entry of AAP, a worried BJP is resorting to such political gimmicks. All Muslim candidates are from the Methi Khadi area.” Congress’ Alok Sharma, speaking to The Print, added, “It is a trick that BJP routinely plays across the state to divide the Muslim vote.”

But Bhushan Ashok Bhatt, former MLA and BJP candidate from Jamalpur, dismissed such allegations.

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“Does Congress want to say that Muslims are now listening to BJP and becoming candidates to damage their vote bank? The AAP, AIMIM and Independent candidates are not kids. Why would they listen to us?” “Congress has already conceded defeat and that is why they are making such imaginary and outrageous claims. Muslims will vote for Modi ji because they can live here peacefully and flourish. The state government never had a biased attitude towards Muslims. I can’t vouch for the illiterate ones, but literate and educated Muslims are with Modi ji,” Bhatt told The Print. Experts say Muslims feel like they have nowhere to turn. Ghanshyam Shah, a sociologist and political observer told The Times of India, “The Muslims are not united as an electorate and a divide in their votes would benefit other candidates. BJP encourages independents to divide the votes. Muslims do not have a trust in BJP and they do not even trust AAP and Congress. Hence, the members of Muslim community contest elections to make their presence felt.” “The community believes that even if the BJP sits it out, it will still win the polls. They are not very hopeful of the opposition, so elections are seen as a ritual, and there is no enthusiasm. Barring those who are or have been in power, there is a growing indifference building up,” Alam told Hindustan Times. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.