MIM's Jaleel first non-Congress Muslim MP from Maharashtra
MUMBAI: AIMIM's Imtiaz Jaleel who won from Aurangabad Lok Sabha seat by 4,492 votes against Shiv Sena MP Chandrakant Khaire, will be Maharashtra's first non-Congress Muslim member of the Lower House.
There have been 11 Muslims members of the Lok Sabha from Maharashtra but they were all from the Congress.
Of them, Asghar Hussain and former chief minister A R Antulay had won the Lok Sabha poll twice, an election official said.
Jaleel, the journalist-turned-politician, said, "I had focused my campaign on development but the Sena has always campaigned around religious sentiments.
" In 2014, Jaleel quit his job as a reporter in a national news channel and days later, contested and won the Assembly poll from Aurangabad central assembly segment.
Mohd Mohibbul Haq won from Akola Lok Sabha seat in 1962 on Congress ticket. Two Muslims were elected from Akola seat to Lok Sabha in 1967 and 1971.
This time, the NCP fielded Hidayat Patel from Akola seat against BJP MP Sanjay Dhotre but he lost. No major party fielded a Muslim candidate in these elections.
Former Union minister Ghulam Nabi Azad won the Lok Sabha seat from Washim constituency in 1984 as a Congress candidate.
Antulay was the last Muslim elected to the Lok Sabha from Maharashtra as a Congress nominee. He won the 1999 election but lost to Shiv Sena candidate Anant Geete in 2004.
There are around 1.30 crore Muslims in Maharashtra, slightly above 11 per cent of the state's total 11.24 crore population, an official said.