Mumbai's Muslims turn to Cong, AAP in bid to defeat Modi

With Mumbai going to the polls today, the Muslim community, which plays a crucial role in deciding which six people will represent the city in the Lok Sabha, is likely to vote mainly for Congress. However in some constituencies there is also a clear preference towards the Samajwadi Party and Aam Adami Party (AAP) as well. Of Mumbai’s six constituencies, Muslims perhaps play a most significant role in the Mumbai South, North Central and North East Lok Sabha constituencies, being contested respectively by Milind Deora (Congress), Priya Dutt (Congress) and AAP candidate Medha Patkar (AAP). Muslim leaders in the city feel that the community is likely to vote for Congress and other secular candidates, which will result in a defeat for the Shiv Sena-BJP candidates. [caption id=“attachment_1494047” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  AFP[/caption] “Muslims, who are conventional Congress voters, will vote for the party this time too. They will not vote for AAP as they feel it is not reliable, after AAP quit the Delhi government abruptly. It also has no significant presence in Mumbai,” said Amin Patel, a congress MLA from the Mumbadevi area in South Mumbai. “SP candidates except Farhan Azmi are not familiar with the voters. So, they are not likely to make any impact,” he added. Maulana Sayyed Moinuddin Ashraf, president of the Jamia Qaudriya Ashrafya, a madrassa in the Agripada area of Central Mumbai said, “The Muslims will vote for secular and non-corrupt candidates but will not vote at all for any other candidates from communal parties.” “In the last Lok Sabha election, a large number of Muslim youngsters voted for the MNS candidate but it will not happen this time due it’s support to Modi,” he added. Rais Shaikh, a Samajwadi Party (SP) corporator from the Govandi area, which falls in Mumbai’s North East Lok Sabha constituency, was of the opinion that the Muslim community there would vote for AAP. “The Muslim community in my area is going with AAP given that the social activist Medha Patkar is contesting from here,” he said. Shaikh was supposed to contest the Lok Sabha election from the constituency but his candidature was withdrawn at the last minute by the party. “Muslims will definitely vote for those candidates who they think can defeat the Shiv Sena-BJP candidates. It is to ensure that Modi does not become the PM,” said Abdul Rehman, editor of the Urdu Times daily. Rehman added that the community is also likely to vote for other secular candidates as well. “There will be a small division of votes in Muslims as some of the Muslim votes will definitely go to SP, MNS and other secular parties based on their network and vote bank. But, it will not make any impact on the election outcome,” he added.