Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM fails to make any mark in Gujarat polls

The 2022 Gujarat meeting elections have been totally different in some ways. This is for the primary time {that a} third social gathering apart from the BJP and Congress has performed an efficient function within the Gujarat meeting elections. This time in Gujarat, there was an influence battle between the BJP, Congress, and the Aam Aadmi Party. And in 14 seats, AIMIM additionally tried its luck.

AIMIM had fielded candidates in 14 seats in Gujarat the place Muslim voters are in a sizeable majority. Most of those seats are historically referred to as strongholds of Congress.

Asaduddin Owaisi had hoped that the Muslims of Gujarat would welcome him with open arms. He had visited Gujarat a number of instances throughout campaigning and held a number of conferences. The AIMIM chief’s conferences obtained a combined response. There was a crowd within the conferences, however on the identical time, they had been additionally seen being opposed by Muslims all over the place.

Now, because the outcomes have come out, it may be seen that the social gathering did not make any mark within the election. AIMIM didn’t win any seat in Gujarat, and its vote share is much less the 0.3%. Most of the AIMIM candidates misplaced their safety deposit within the polls.

AIMIM in Gujarat elections

Out of the entire of 182 seats, AIMIM had fielded its candidates from 14 seats. These 14 constituencies and their outcomes are as follows:

1.   Bapunagar: While AIMIN was going to contest from this constituency, their candidate Shahnawaz Pathan withdrew his candidature and supported Congress on this seat. BJP has been declared the winner from right here.

2.   Bhuj: Shakeel Sama obtained an AIMIM ticket right here and crossed a mark of 15% vote share, receiving 17% votes, however he got here third after BJP and Congress. BJP’s Keshubhai Patel gained with greater than 53% votes.

3.   Danilimda (SC): AIMIM candidate Kaushika Parmar might safe a mere 1.58% votes right here and misplaced to Shailesh Parmar of Congress who bagged greater than 44% votes. BJP’s Nareshbhai Shankarbhai Vyas was the runners-up with 35.5% vote share.

4.   Daryapur: Hasan Khan Pathan alias Hasanlala, as talked about in his candidature type, miserably failed. He might get simply round 1.42% of the votes with lower than 2000 votes. BJP gained this seat whereas Congress got here second.

5.   Godhra: Mufti Hasan Kachba contested the seat recognized for the carnage that passed off in 2002. He needed to be content material with a 5.1% vote share. He misplaced to CK Raulji of the BJP who secured above 50% votes right here which is nearly ten folds greater than the AIMIM candidate. Congress candidate Rashmitaben Chauhan was within the second spot with over 32% votes.

6.   Jamalpur-Khadia: Sabir Kabuliwala apparently made a dent within the Congress vote share right here as he obtained greater than 12 p.c of the entire votes. But this was inadequate to defeat Imran Khedawala of Congress who seemingly took away a serious share of the Muslim votes and gained the seat. BJP’s Bhushan Ashok Bhatt was within the second place.

7.   Khambhaliya: Yaqoob Bukhari of AIMIM stood nowhere in competitors with others from this constituency. He obtained simply 733 votes, which is 0.4% of the entire votes polled. Ayar Mulubhai Hardasbhai Bera of BJP gained this seat with over 40% of votes, whereas Congress was within the second place with 23.5%.

8.   Limbayat: Abdul Basir Sheikh of AIMIM obtained lower than 3% votes right here. BJP’s Sangitaben Patil has secured victory with over 53% votes, whereas AAP candidate Pankajbhai Tayade got here second with 21% vote share. The Congress candidate was within the third place.

9.   Mandvi: Mohammad Iqbal Manjaliya of AIMIM stood fourth on this seat with a 5% vote share whereas Aniruddha Dave of the BJP emerged because the winner with greater than 53% votes.

10. Mangrol: Sulaiman Patel of AIMIM obtained round 7.5% votes, registering over 10000 votes. Bhagvanbhai Kargatiya of the BJP is winner from the seat, whereas Congress got here second with 26% and AAP was third with over 23% vote share.

11. Sidhpur: Abbasbhai Nodsola contested on the AIMIM ticket and secured lower than 1% votes right here. BJP gained the seat whereas Congress got here second in one other shut contest.

12. Surat East: AIMIM candidate Wasim Qureshi obtained a mere 1671 votes right here, which is 1.2% vote share. BJP’s Arvind Rana gained from Surat East with over 52% votes. In this seat too, Congress candidate Aslam Cyclewala obtained a majority of the Muslim votes with 42.4% vote share.

13. Vadgam (SC): Kalpesh Sundhia fought this seat for AIMIM. But the primary tussle right here was between Jignesh Mewani of Congress and Manibhai Vaghela of the BJP. In the top, Jignesh Mewani emerged because the winner in a detailed battle.

14. Vejalpur: Zainab Bibi Shaikh of AIMIM obtained simply 1.01% votes on this seat, with simply 2310 votes. BJP’s Amit Thaker gained from Vejalpur with over 56% votes.

Therefore, it may be seen that AIMIM did not mark its presence within the Gujarat meeting elections with a negligible vote share within the seats the place the social gathering contested. Its vote share within the state is lower than 0.3%, whereas newcomer AAP has obtained virtually 13% of the votes polled within the state. AAP has gained 5 seats in Gujarat, and it’s now the third-largest social gathering within the state by way of each the variety of MLAs and vote share.

While the types had been nonetheless being submitted, AIMIM suffered a setback. On the final day of withdrawal of types, the AIMIM candidate from Bapunagar, Shahnawaz Pathan, withdrew his type and joined the Congress.

AIMIM had fielded candidates in virtually all Muslim-dominated seats. And these seats had been principally occupied by Congress MLAs earlier. BJP has gained most of those seats, with a number of gained by Congress. The predominant seats the place AIMIM contested had been Jamalpur-Khadia, Danilimda, Daryapur, and Vadgam.

Fearing that AIMIM would minimize its Muslim votes, Congress began spreading the phrase that AIMIM was the B staff of the BJP and Owaisi was an agent of the RSS. And they had been largely profitable in spreading the phrase.

Even earlier than the second section of polling, the Shahi Imam of Ahmedabad’s Jama Masjid had made an announcement to the media that Muslims mustn’t enable division of their votes. He requested Muslims to vote for congress as a substitute of AIMIM.

Apart from this, throughout the election marketing campaign, individuals protested towards Owaisi at many locations throughout Gujarat by waving black flags and chanting ‘Go Back’. These locations embrace Surat and Ahmedabad.

OpIndia tried to gauge the thoughts of the Muslim neighborhood

Even earlier than the primary section of elections, an OpIndia staff met Muslim voters in Ahmedabad and Surat and tried to learn how they had been taking a look at AIMIM within the Gujarat elections.

We obtained combined responses on this regard. Most of the Muslim neighborhood members believed that the AIMIM might do nothing however assist the BJP by reducing the Votes of Congress.

Emotional enchantment by Owaisi

Owaisi turned emotional when he was campaigning for the second section of polling after the primary section of polling. On December 2, whereas addressing a public assembly in Jamalpur, he broke down in tears.

Owaisi cried and appealed to the individuals to make Sabir win in order that ‘no injustice is done to any Bilkis again’. Owaisi begged for votes in entrance of the individuals and mentioned, “Allah, please make Sabir an MLA.”

Impact of AIMIM on election outcomes

From the outcomes, it’s clear that the AIMIM might bag greater than 5% votes in simply 4 constituencies. It might safe lower than 5% votes in 9 constituencies. 6 of the 9 seats mark lower than 1.5% vote share for AIMIM. This is so minimal that it has no impact on the election outcomes aside from some publicity gimmicks by the Hyderabad-based Muslim chief.

Results on Muslim-Majority seats in Gujarat. OpIndia picture

12 out of those 14 Muslim-majority seats had been gained by the BJP. Major fights on all these seats had been between Congress and BJP solely. AIMIM was not in second place in any of those seats. In reality, it was within the fourth spot on 7 out of those 14 seats.