Muslim-dominated seats in Delhi set to go with AAP, no love for Congress

Despite an underlying feeling within the community that the AAP had not stood by it, especially during the 2020 riots and anti-CAA protests, Muslims saw the AAP as the only viable option that could pose a challenge to the BJP.

An AAP leader from the minority community on Saturday said the support from the minority community is a “consolation” in comparison to the overall result. “While our party may have not been very popular among the community, Muslims have definitely stood behind us in these elections,” the leader said.

While only 16 Muslim candidates contested the 2020 elections, this time the number doubled with smaller parties like the BSP and AIMIM fielding candidates from the community.

The AAP had fielded Muslim candidates in five seats – Matia Mahal and Ballimaran in Central Delhi, Okhla in South East Delhi, and Seelampur and Mustafabad in North East Delhi – just like it did in 2020.

Along with Dalits and jhuggi-jhopdi (JJ) or slum cluster residents, the Muslim community, which accounts for about 13% of Delhi’s 1.55 crore voters, played a key role in ensuring the AAP’s sweep in the 2015 and 2020 Assembly polls, when the party had bagged 67 and 62 seats out of 70, respectively.

The AIMIM factor

The Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM had fielded candidates on two seats with a sizeable Muslim population – Okhla and Mustafabad. While Delhi riots accused and former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain was in third place in Mustafabad where the BJP was leading, the party’s second candidate Shifa ur Rehman Khan, who is also an accused in the 2020 riots, was in second place in Okhla.

Congress

While the Congress may have focused on the community during its campaign, it failed to translate into votes. The party was third on six of the seven seats while it was a distant fourth in Okhla. Congress leaders admit that the party may have failed to convince the community that it was a force which could challenge the BJP in the national capital. “We failed to convince the community that we could defeat the BJP. This was primarily due to the last two elections when our performance was dismal,” said a Congress leader.

In the 2020 polls, the Congress had fielded only five Muslim candidates – in the same seats where the AAP’s Muslim faces emerged as the winners. This time, the Congress had fielded seven candidates. Barring Seelampur, where it secured a 15.61% vote share, the Congress’ vote share was very low in the seven seats.