You must ask Delhi why Rahul ji’s Yatra did not include Gujarat: Lone Gujarat Muslim MLA

I believe we could not convey our manifesto well. It did not reach the masses, which I believe could be because of some gap at the party management level, as well as the individual candidate level. Our publicity was weak compared to that of the BJP. The party provided us with resources such as leaflets, advertising material, LED vans, etc., two months ahead of the elections, but ultimately it is up to the candidate to utilise these. I accept there was something lacking in the management and arrangement that should have been there from the national level of the party… There was perhaps some communication gap… Rahul ji [Congress MP Rahul Gandhi] was busy with the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which was planned a year ago at the national level. You will have to ask Delhi why his Yatra did not include Gujarat in its route. Perhaps, the party at Delhi level should have considered Gujarat [in its route for the Yatra] and should have focused more here, given that the BJP deployed its national leaders in their campaign. There should have been public addresses by Rahul ji, Priyanka ji [Priyanka Gandhi, general secretary of the Congress], Sonia ji [Sonia Gandhi] and other national-level Congress leaders. That they did not come definitely harmed the Congress [performance in Gujarat]… Right now, our priority is to boost the morale of our party workers who are in a bit of a shock with the result. Our ground-level workers are our strength. They are slapped with false charges, arrested, harassed and yet they continue to be with the party. Losing an election is one issue, but our workers remain with us. The BJP won, but did you see anyone from the general public celebrating this win?

Has the fact that Congress candidates switched to the BJP after the 2017 polls had an impact on this year’s results?

KHEDAWALA: Many who went to the BJP after leaving the Congress lost. Some won. I don’t think that had an impact. An MLA switching a party doesn’t mean the party workers are switching as well. They remain with the Congress.

Generally, voter turnout was lower than 2017. What were the reasons?

KHEDAWALA: People did not come out of their homes to vote. Voting was also slowed down. I had lodged the first complaint [on December 5] on this. In one of our booths, the EVM machine had to be changed thrice because it was not working. By the time it had been changed and polling resumed after an hour, many had left without voting. Machines were slow, arrangements like lighting were not proper in the booths, so even the arrangements that should have been made by the Election Commission were not in place. Their staff also worked slowly.

The election was fought on several polarising issues, such as flogging of Muslims in Undhela and demolitions in Bet Dwarka, but these were not prominently taken up by the Congress. Did that impact the Congress?

KHEDAWALA: There was a gap in the public outreach somewhere.

We saw a hardline campaign by BJP leaders, where Yogi Adityanath was touting the ‘bulldozer model’, Amit Shah spoke about ‘teaching 2002 Gujarat rioters a lesson’, etc. Do you think this converts to votes for the BJP?

KHEDAWALA: Some people like such kind of polarising speeches, but most don’t like it, I believe… The BJP benefits from this. Why do you think the AIMIM was brought here? The speeches barrister (Asaduddin) Owaisi sahab gives, creates discontent among the Hindu community. It is similar to how an RSS or a VHP person talks about Muslims… but I would say 80 per cent people do not like polarisation.

Do such issues disadvantage Muslims in their daily lives?

KHEDAWALA: In Muslim areas such as mine, an issue is that no housing scheme is implemented here because they don’t get the [value for] floor space index (FSI). Roads are narrow here and this is the walled city. I believe the government should be increasing the FSI here. On one side, in other areas, the government is granting permissions for 40-storeyed buildings. The government should also then issue a resolution, amending the provisions for the Central zone [of Ahmedabad city that includes the walled area of the city] so that people here can build decent houses with appropriate permissions and approvals. The government keeps bringing in an impact fee concept, but that is not a solution… Then the government comes and demolishes homes for illegal encroachments and we are unable to stand up for them [because it is illegal]. And then communal colour comes into it. Non-vegetarian food became an issue when the government said it cannot be sold from hand carts etc. But what someone will eat, what they will wear, will the government decide that? If everything [personal choices] are to be decided by the government, then what will happen to this country?

You’re the lone Muslim MLA this time. Do you see this impacting Muslim voices in the Assembly and in policy-making?

KHEDAWALA: The number of Congress MLAs in the Assembly has fallen, but those who have been elected are strong leaders. Take Arjun Modhwadia, Tushar Chaudhary, Jignesh Mevani, C J Chavda, Shailesh Parmar. They are more powerful and experienced than those who have won for the BJP this time. So although we are just 17 MLAs, we are not weak. We will present our issues as usual in the Assembly. The Congress is a secular party and we speak for the issues of people from all communities and religions. It’s not that I will take up issues only of Muslims or Christians or Dalits… Moreover, it is not just the MLAs, we have ground-level teams in villages, towns, talukas, districts, so expressing our opposition to any policy is not limited to the Assembly. There are other ways to oppose any wrongful decision through dharna and protests, and creating awareness of issues among the people through these ground-level party workers. Our key fight will be against inflation and unemployment… We will also take up the issues of education and health… I want a scheme where women can earn by working from home… We also do not believe in the talks of Hindu Rashtra that the government keeps emphasising on. We want all 6.5 crore citizens of the state to be safe and secure, be it Hindus or Muslims, and this is a constitutional duty of the government and they will have to ensure that. They cannot backtrack from that… Earlier, there were 71 Congress MLAs and when it came to passing of Bills, it would pass anyway since BJP held a majority. It hardly matters whether there are 17 MLAs of ours, or 71. The key is the Opposition voice, which we will continue with.

Given that you say education is a priority, what will be the impact of the Centre’s withdrawal of the Maulana Azad Fellowship for minority students?

KHEDAWALA: First of all I want the Prime Minister’s 15-point programme for the welfare of minorities to be implemented, so that minority groups can benefit from it, not just Muslims. The programme takes into account several aspects — housing, education, government jobs. The provisions have it all, but it is not implemented in practice and I want that to be implemented first and foremost because that will ensure progress of minority groups.