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As Bengal votes today, what stands out: BJP has no Muslim candidates, breaking pattern
In 2021, the party fielded 9 candidates from the minority community, of whom six finished as runners-up and the rest came third.
Elections in West Bengal were synonymous with booth capturing, large-scale repolling and violent intimidation of voters. But improved governance since 2005 has made a decisive difference. PTI Photo
As West Bengal votes in the first phase on Thursday amid the controversy over voter deletions that appear to have affected constituencies dominated by Muslims and Hindu refugees from the Matua community, an analysis of the candidates of the major parties shows that while the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Congress have fielded a substantial number of Muslim candidates, unlike previous three elections, the BJP has not fielded any, marking a discernible shift in its strategy.
In 2011, when it was a marginal force in Bengal politics, the BJP fielded Muslim candidates in six seats. The party failed to open its account in that election. Five years later, when it won three seats, the BJP again fielded six Muslim candidates. But all of them lost. In 2021, when the BJP established itself as the primary Opposition force by winning 77 seats, the BJP had nine candidates from the minority community. While six finished runners-up — Chopra, Goalpokhar, Harischandrapur, Raghunathganj, and Sagardighi — three finished third.
“The party this time decided not to field any Muslim because there is strong polarisation on the ground,” said the BJP’s state minority wing president Ali Hossain. “The TMC and the Congress have fielded Muslims in larger numbers because they do appeasement politics. The BJP does not discriminate between Hindus and Muslims. When the party comes to power after this election, Muslims will receive the benefits of welfare schemes without any discrimination.”
Hossain had contested from Natabari in Cooch Behar district and came third.
Asked why the BJP had not given tickets tp Muslims, state BJP spokesperson Bimal Sankar Nanda said, “Tickets have been distributed based on the winnability of candidates. Educated Muslims are distancing themselves from the TMC and they will vote for the BJP in the current elections.”
Other parties
In contrast, a quarter of the Congress’s 294 candidates, or 75 (25.31%), are from the minority community. This is lower than five years ago, when Muslims made up 36.95% of its 94 candidates. The party had contested that election in alliance with the Left Front and the Indian Secular Force (ISF).
In 2021, the TMC had given tickets to 46 Muslim candidates, or 15,86% of its 290 candidates, and this time the share has risen marginally to 16.49%, with 48 candidates from the minority community getting the ruling party’s tickets (the party is contesting 291 seats this time).
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The Left Front’s major constituents CPI(M) and CPI, and ally CPI(M-L) Liberation, have collectively fielded 42 Muslims.
There are 45 seats where the TMC and the Congress both have Muslim candidates, with the BJP looking to gain an advantage through the division of the minority vote. In 19, all three — TMC, Congress, and Left — have fielded Muslim candidates.
Then there are the other smaller parties, such as the Indian Secular Front (ISF), which is contesting in alliance with the Left. The party, which had the lone non-TMC and non-BJP MLA in the outgoing Assembly, is contesting 30 constituencies. In 20 of the seats, its candidates are from the minority community.
Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM has 11 candidates, all Muslims, while suspended TMC MLA Humayun Kabir’s Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) that is contesting 143 seats has fielded Muslim candidates in most of the seats. The party had an alliance with the AIMIM, which called it off after a video emerged earlier this month in which a person purported to be Kabir was heard saying that he accepted money from the BJP to divide the Muslim vote.
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Of the 152 Assembly seats voting in the first phase, the Congress has 42 Muslim candidates in the fray, followed by the TMC’s 28, the CPI(M)’s 24, seven of the AIMIM, and two each of the CPI and the CPI(M-L) Liberation.
In the 2021 elections, 44 Muslim MLAs were elected, of whom 43 were from the TMC. That marked a drop in the minority community’s representation in the House as 59 Muslim legislators were elected to the 294-member House in 2016: 32 from the TMC, 18 from the Congress, and 9 from the Left.
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