Despite constituting about 11.50% of state’s population or 1.30 crore in real terms, Muslims have been on the margins of the electoral process in Maharashtra. The maximum number of Muslims elected to the house of 288 has been 13. This is the number of Muslims MLAs elected in 1972, 1980 and 1999. Only 10 Muslims were elected to the Maharashtra Assembly Elections in 2019.
Muslims On Margins Of Decision- Making
It is clear that despite being the second biggest chunk of voters, they have been on the margin of decision making in the state all the time. What will happen in Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024? How the Muslims will vote at a time when the secular forces have joined hands to beat the Hindutva forces? Will they raise the demand for reservation for Muslims?
Muslim MP After 15 Years
Despite the electoral politics being divided into two coalitions of six major parties- Maya Yuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi, Imtiaz Jaleel Syed was the only Muslim MP from the state to get elected in 2019. The status of Muslims in the electoral politics of the state can be gauged by the fact that he was the first Muslim in 15 years to be elected to the Lok Sabha from Maharashtra. Abdul Rehman Antulay was elected from Raigad in 2004.
Dwindling Number Of Muslim MLAs
However, the number of Muslim MLAs in Maharashtra has declined over the years. A total of 12 Muslim MLAs were elected in 1999, but it fell down to 11 in 2004. It came down to just 10 in 2009. This number fell to nine in 2014. The same number of Muslims were elected to the Maharashtra assembly in 2019.
‘Vote Jihad?’
There is no indication that the number of Muslim MLAs will go up this time as neither the Maha Yuti nor the MVA has allotted the required 10% of tickets to Muslim leaders of their constituent parties.
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In what may be termed as an attempt to polarise the voters on the line of religion, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis talked about “vote jihad”, it rattled not only Muslims but also most of the parties. Though, NCP President and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar announced that his party would reserve 10% of seats for minority candidates in the upcoming assembly elections, the party did not keep its promise.
Will Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi Fill The Gap?
Prakash Ambedkar of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi has announced to field a lot of Muslim candidates. Slamming the Maha Yuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi, he recalled that only nine questions were asked related to the problems of Muslims in the Maharashtra assembly from 2019 to 2024.
Muslims Exerting Now?
However, the Muslims are exerting themselves now in the politics of Maharashtra. It is evident by the fact that former Congress MLA Yusuf Abrahani urged Muslims to boycott Shiv Sena UBT because it has not given enough tickets to Muslim leaders.
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He emphasized that the entire Muslim community voted for the MVA in the Lok Sabha elections. He also said that in constituencies like Mumbai, Sena candidates won because of Muslim votes.
However, hitting back at him, senior Sena (UBT) leader Subhash Desai asked if Abraham was not aware that the party had fielded Haroon Khan from Versova. He alleged that Abrahani’s concern was not about the Muslim community and he urged to boycott the party because he did not get a ticket from his party.
What will happen and how will the Muslims vote in Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024? Will Muslim leaders be able to get their shares of seats? Will their issues be raised during the election campaign? The answers to these questions will be known soon.
