LUCKNOW: The Muslim voters, who had consolidated en masse in favour of the Samajwadi Party in 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, threw up a surprise in the recently-concluded urban local body (ULB) polls by using their discretion over their support to parties including SP, Bahujan Samaj Party, Congress and Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Musalmeen (AIMIM).
However, the division in Muslim votes has helped the ruling BJP in registering an emphatic win in UP civic polls. In fact, the SP, which had enjoyed over 80 per cent of minority vote consolidation in its favour during the Assembly elections, taking its tally from 47 to 111, had faced a stiff challenge from AIMIM in certain constituencies dominated by minorities, especially in western UP.
In the recently concluded UP ULB polls, Muslims showed a shift from the SP towards the AIMIM, BSP and Congress, going against SP’s traditional ‘M-Y’ (Muslim-Yadav) factor. “Through their voting pattern, Muslims have conveyed the message that their support cannot be taken for granted. They have come out of traditional realm to vote for other parties of their choice,” says Dr SK Dwivedi, former HoD, Political Science department of Lucknow University.
This change in approach not only led the BJP and ally Apna Dal (S) to have their first-ever Muslim member Shafiq Ahmed Ansari in UP assembly from Suar Assembly seat in Rampur, but also helped AIMIM register its presence in state’s urban local bodies.
The minority community sided with AIMIM which dealt a major blow to the Samajwadi Party at a number of places. AIMIM candidate Mohammad Anas ended up a runner-up pushing SP’s Seema Pradhan, wife of senior party leader Atul Pradhan, to the third position in Meerut mayoral poll. Notably, Meerut has a respectable chunk of OBC Muslims.
Moreover, AIMIM registered victory in three Municipal Board chairperson posts in Sambhal, Sikandrarao in Hathras and Ghatampur in Kanpur Dehat. AIMIM also won two Nagar Panchayat chief’s posts in Thhiriya in Bareilly and Kundarki in Moradabad.
The party won total 19 corporators’ seats in Municipal Corporation of Ghaziabad, Bareilly and Firozabad, 33 seats of members in Municipal Boards and 23 Nagar Panchayat members. The performance of AIMIM is a clarion call for the Samajwadi Party with a message that Asaduddin Owaisi has been able to make forays into Muslim constituency of UP.
On the other hand, the Muslim community voted in support of BSP in Saharanpur where party mayoral candidate Khatija Masood who remained the runner up rejecting SP candidate. Even in Agra, the Muslim voters preferred the BSP’s Lata to Samajwadi Party candidate. Similarly, a prominent shift of Muslim votes towards Congress was witnessed Moradabad, Jhansi and Ayodhya mayoral seats.