Mumbai:
The sweep of the ruling alliance in Maharashtra has been broadly attributed to the welfare programmes of the Eknath Shinde authorities. But a key issue has been the cut up in Muslim vote which has delivered a piece of the state’s 38 seats to the ruling alliance. The Muslim inhabitants is greater than 20 per cent in these 38 seats, making a key distinction within the consequence of the election. Over all, the ruling alliance has gained 22 of those 38 seats, manner forward of the 13 gained by the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi.
The cut up in votes has hit the Congress onerous – the social gathering’s rating has dropped from 11 to 5. The Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena Uddhav has bought six seats and Sharad Pawar’s NCP faction bought two.
Of the 38 seats, the BJP has elevated its tally from 11 in 2019 to 14. The Shiv Sena of Eknath Shinde has gained six seats and Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party two seats.
Of the remaining three seats, Samajwadi Party bought two and Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM bought only one.
The consequence signifies that the clerics did not dominate the collective determination of the Muslim neighborhood – a state of affairs that helped the BJP strengthen its allegations of “vote jihad” or consolidation of Muslim votes in opposition to the Mahayuti.
Denying Opposition allegations of polarisation, senior BJP chief Vinay Sahasrabuddhe mentioned all communities are included within the slogan “Ek hain toh secure hain”. “People didn’t fall prey to the politics of appeasement and polarisation of the MVA, and got here collectively to vote for improvement. All communities are included in our ‘Ek hain toh secure hain’ mantra,” he mentioned.
“There was no place for appeasement, individuals right here have a look at improvement and advantages,” mentioned Salim Sarang, the president of the Muslim Welfare Association.
Among the massive Muslim names who misplaced have been NCP’s Nawab Malik and Zeeshan Siddiqui in addition to Congress’s Arif Naseem Khan.
Data signifies that whereas the assist of the Muslim neighborhood helped the MVA win a giant victory within the Lok Sabha election held in May, what went in opposition to them within the Assembly polls have been low enthusiasm, divided votes and communal polarization in some seats. In some seats, the presence of a number of Muslim candidates cut up votes.
For occasion, in Aurangabad East, AIMIM state chief and former MP Imtiaz Jaleel misplaced to the BJP’s Atul Save by 2,161 votes. VBA’s Afsar Khan (6,507 votes) and SP’s Abdul Gaffar Syed (5,943 votes) cut up the Muslim vote within the seat, making certain Jaleel’s defeat.
The solely seat AIMIM gained was in Muslim-dominated Malegaon Central, the place its candidate Mufti Ismail, the sitting MLA, gained by simply 162 votes-the lowest margin within the state.
Meanwhile, in Bhiwandi West, Mahesh Chaugule of the BJP defeated Riyaz Azmi of the SP by 31,293 votes as Muslims additionally divided their votes between AIMIM’s Waris Pathan (15,800 votes) and Independent Vilas Patil (31,579 votes).