AHMEDABAD – The BJP is elated to have won the government in the seventh district in Gujarat by chanting the slogan of Hindutva and development. The results indicate that the BJP has won well in the Muslim majority areas.
BJP is leading in 12 out of 17 Muslim-majority constituencies. Despite not fielding even a single Muslim candidate, there was an increase of 6 seats over last year. Congress is ahead in only five seats. It is also noteworthy that the victory is in constituencies that traditionally support the Congress.
Daryapur constituency is an example. Here the Muslim community is more. The constituency has been held by the Congress for 10 years. This time Congress sitting MLA Gayasuddin Shaikh lost to BJP’s Kaushik Jain. AAP, which is poised to gain a huge presence in Gujarat by grabbing the votes of the Congress, is not ahead in any of these constituencies. It was Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM that paved the way for the Congress to split the votes and for the BJP to win.
AIMIM fielded 13 candidates. In this there were 2 non-Muslim communities. Congress votes were split, including in Jamalpur-Ghadia and Vadgam. Another reason is that the Muslim voters in Gujarat suspected that the Aam Aadmi Party, which is fighting the BJP with the same idea, is the BJP’s B team.
Some were also worried whether the Congress had the strength to hold its own against the BJP. In this situation, Salim Ajmiri, a Minority Morcha activist who is working to bring Muslims closer to the BJP, pointed out that there are at least 25 percent of people who think that ‘if they support the BJP now, life will go on safely’.
English Summary: BJP Scores As Split In Gujarat Muslim Votes Hits Congress