Shafeeq Rahman,
Muslims make up 13% of the total population of Delhi but they are politically unrepresented in the legislative bodies. Their representation ratio is zero in seven parliamentary constituencies, 5.7% in state legislative body with 4 members out of 70 and 5.1% in all three municipal corporations with 14 councillors out of 272 members. The recently held MCD election has decreased the Muslim representation from 16 (5.8%) councillors in previous 2012 election to 14 (5.1%) in 2017.
Muslims have the population across the state, but their concentration is in different pockets of all three civic zones. Okhla in South; Ballimaran, Chandni Chowk, Matia Mahal and Sadar Bazar in North; and Babarpur, Seelampur, Karawal Nagar, Mustafabad and Seeampuri in East are the main Muslim-concentrated areas of Delhi. Muslim councillors generally win from these areas only.
In terms of Muslim ratio in ticket distribution, the three major political parties in Delhi had allotted tickets to Muslims in MCD election 2017. The highest number of tickets to Muslims (19 i.e. 7.01%) was allotted by AAP, which was followed by Congress with 16 tickets (5.90%). BJP, a party widely known for denying tickets to Muslims, also fielded four Muslim candidates. All Muslim candidates of BJP, however, lost in the election while 7 candidates won from AAP and 6 from Congress and one won on BSP ticket.
An assessment of voting trends in wards with more than 40% Muslim population found that like in Uttar Pradesh’s recent Assembly polls, Muslim voters’ preference was divided between AAP and Congress, but BJP also got votes of the community in selected areas, mainly where it had fielded Muslim candidate. AAP secured the highest 34.71% vote share in Muslim-dominated wads, higher than its state average of 26.23%; Congress got 28.04% votes, slightly higher than 21.09% state average, but the BJP with 23.34% votes was below its 36.08% state average. Performance of major parties in these wards is shown in the table below:
Performance of Major Parties in Muslim Concentrated Wards (Above 40%) in Delhi MCD Election 2017
Ward
Assembly
Winner
Vote Share %
Party
Candidate
BJP
AAP
INC
Sunder Nagri
Seemapuri
AAP
Vimlesh
32.1
50.6
3.7
Chauhan Banger
Seelampur
AAP
Abdul Rehman
1.5
45.9
33.7
Seelampur
Seelampur
BSP
Shakila Begum
32.3
12.0
12.2
Subhash Mohalla
Babarpur
AAP
Rekha Tyagi
34.6
35.6
19.7
Kardam Puri
Babarpur
AAP
Sazid
33.0
34.8
28.1
Janta Colony
Babarpur
BJP
Sachin Sharma
31.5
27.8
9.4
Mustafabad
Mustafabad
INC
Parveen
21.7
31.3
43.7
Nehru Vihar
Mustafabad
AAP
Mohd Tahir Hussain
31.0
32.5
17.8
Sri Ram Colony
Karawal Nagar
AAP
Sahista
27.5
39.0
29.3
Sadar Bazar
Sadar Bazar
BJP
Jai Parkash
37.7
24.8
34.9
Jama Masjid
Chandni Chowk
INC
Sultana Abad
12.7
25.5
60.5
Ajmeri Gate
Matia Mahal
AAP
Rakesh Kumar
21.5
35.1
26.9
Bazar Sita Ram
Matia Mahal
INC
Seema Tahira
15.4
38.1
39.3
Delhi Gate
Matia Mahal
INC
Aaley Mohammaed Iqbal
15.3
15.9
51.8
Quraish Nagar
Ballimaran
AAP
Shaheen
28.7
39.6
22.7
Ballimaran
Ballimaran
AAP
Mohd Sadiq
18.0
52.6
27.0
Zakir Nagar
Okhla
INC
Shoab Danish.
7.7
38.3
42.5
Abul Fazal Enclave
Okhla
AAP
Abdul Wajid Khan
Not
Contested
39.3
23.2
Okhla, a south constituency known for the hub of Muslim intellectuals and for the offices of major Muslim organizations, had the poor voter turnout. Two of Muslim concentrated wards in Okhla Assembly constituency accounted among the poor turnout wards – Abul Fazal Enclave with 42.3% and Zakir Nagar with 40.1. Zakir Nagar was the ward with the second lowest turnout in entire Delhi against the 54% state average turnout.
These two wards had the highest number of contesting candidates and almost all secular parties had Muslim candidates in this area. Cost estimates of the elections are yet to be released and surely this constituency would be among the costliest constituency in the state. This situation shows the priorities among the Muslims. They want and need more representation and facilities but do not wish to wisely participate in the electoral process.
—
Shafeeq Rahman is a Delhi-based researcher. He can be contacted at [email protected].
—
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. IndiaTomorrow.net is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this article. All information is provided on an as-is basis. The information, facts or opinions appearing in the article may not reflect the views of IndiaTomorrow.net and IndiaTomorrow.net does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.
