Fadnavis raises alarm over ‘vote jihad’, Congress says people rejected communal agenda

Taking serious objections to Fadnavis’s remarks on ‘vote jihad,’ Dhule MP and Congress leader Dr Shobha Bacchav said, “The BJP’s divisive politics is responsible for such results. The fear and hatred spread against minorities resulted in the community reposing their complete trust in Congress-led Mahayuti. The Congress believes in ‘sarva dharma samabhava…”

The Congress leader also dismissed Fadnavis’s charge as factually incorrect, arguing, “I have polled sizeable votes in all six Assembly segments. In Malegaon central, I got a decisive mandate of 1,98,869 votes as compared to BJP candidate (Subhash Bhamre)’s 4,542.”

“Now, this has been the trend in previous polls. If we look at the last two polls, the BJP candidate always polled 4,500 to 5,000 votes in Malegaon central, which is 80 percent Muslim-dominated while the remaining 20 percent are Hindus,” she said. The hate politics saw minorities distancing from BJP not just in Dhule constituency, but across Maharashtra, she said.

Earlier, Fadnavis stoked controversy by citing Dhule Lok Sabha results as a classic case of vote jihad.

According to Fadnavis, “In the Dhule constituency, the BJP candidate led with 1.9 lakh votes in five assembly seats. Unfortunately, our candidate trailed by 1.94 lakh votes because of en mass voting of Muslims in the Malegaon central Assembly segment, losing the election by just 4,000 votes.”

The Lok Sabha polls in Dhule saw a straight fight between Congress (MVA) candidate Shobha Bacchav and BJP’s (Mahayuti) two-term sitting BJP MP Dr Subhash Bhamre.

Assembly segment-wise, Bachhav polled 75,923 in Dhule rural, 68,424 in Sindhkheda, 72,242 in Malegaon outer, 78,253 in Baglan, 78,438 in Dhule city and 1,98,869 in Malegaon central.

The Assembly seat-wise votes of losing candidate Bhamre was 1,39,721 in Dhule rural, 1,11849 in Sindhkhed, 1,27,454 in Malegaon outer, 1,00,166 in Baglan, 93,262 in Dhule city and 4,542 in Malegaon central.

Despite taking leads in five Assembly segments, Bhamre lost the polls because of massive Muslim consolidation translating into huge voting in Malegaon central.
However, Bacchav said, “While I may have polled 50,000 more in Malegaon central compared to past polls, what cannot be overlooked is the fact that the vote share in other five segments is also substantial.”

The strategic voting saw Muslims decisively putting all votes behind MVA candidates across 48 constituencies, says Bacchav.

Fadnavis said, “There are more than one lakh complaints received on ‘love jihad’ conspiracy where Hindu women were being lured into marriage by men using fake identities.”

The home minister said, “Initially we dismissed it as a myth. But there are credible documents to substantiate the growing instances of Muslim men trapping Hindu girls into marriage through fake identity. In many cases, the woman are subjected to ill treatment.”

Fadnavis also expressed alarm over growing religious conversions. “We notice in some cases people have Indian names. But after they die, they are buried and a cross is installed. The major threat before us is that the number of certain religions looks smaller on paper, but in reality more people have been converted secretly,” he said. “It’s high time we reconcile to ground realities and spread awareness. We have to protect our rights and religion,” he said.

The Deputy CM’s remarks invited strong criticism from Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress.

State Congress chief Nana Patole said, “The BJP has a habit of spreading lies. They distort facts and history. Their anti-Muslim and anti-Christian agenda is no secret.”