BJP’s five Muslim faces lose elections
The BJP may have won the Delhi municipal elections but its five Muslim candidates lost in their respective wards — all areas dominated by Muslims. While the party did not have a single Muslim face in the assembly elections held in March across five states, it fielded six Muslim candidates in 272 wards across Delhi.
Out of the six candidates, only five contested the polls. A candidate’s nomination was cancelled by the Election Commission because of an error in his nomination form.
For one candidate, the BJP also made an exception to its rule of not giving tickets to sitting councillors or their relatives. In Quraish Nagar, the party gave ticket to Rubina, 52, daughter of a sitting councillor Hoor Bano. Rubina’s family had held the Quraish Nagar ward for three terms.
Except, Rubina, none of the other candidates managed even a runners-up slot. The other four were placed third. She lost to AAP’s Shaheen by about 2,500 votes.
Other candidates, who lost were Kunwar Rafi from Zakir Nagar, Sartaj Ahmed from Chauhan Banger, Sabra Malik from Mustafabad, and Faimuddin Saifi from Delhi Gate.
The AAP and the Congress, which won at these five wards had all fielded Muslim faces.
Kunwar lost to Shoaib Danish, who won the Zakir Nagar ward for the third time. A volunteer who was with Danish at the polling booth on Wednesday said, “The BJP fielded a Muslim but we knew that they would lose. Danish won because of his work.”
Sartaj Ahmed lost to Abdul Rehman of the AAP. Sabra Malik, the wife of a scrap dealer lost to Congress’s Parveen, the present councillor of Mustafabad ward. Faimuddin Saifi, a businessman dealing in steel lost to Aalay Mohammed Iqbal of the Congress. Iqbal, son of a four time MLA Shoaib Iqbal has won the seat for the second time.
Atif Rashid, president of the minority wing of Delhi BJP, said that BJP’s vote share improved in areas where Muslims were fielded. “In Zakir Nagar, we had only 427 votes last time, which increased to over 2,000 this time. In Mustafabad, also our vote share increased. Our candidate Rubina lost in Quraish Nagar, as the AAP candidate was from Quraish community,” he said.
“Delimitation of wards also took our votes. In the future, we will continue to support our Muslim brother and sisters, especially from backward communities and bring them into the party for overall development,” he said.