AIMIM state president Jameel Khan (right) with AIMIM chief Asaududdin Owaisi (left).
Credit: X/@jameelwecan
Jaipur: Voters in Rajasthan will have more options to choose their representatives from, as AIMIM makes its entry into the desert state for the first time.
AIMIM (All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen) has announced three candidates from the Muslim-dominated areas for the upcoming elections on Nov 25. The three candidates are Javed Ali Khan from Fatehpur constituency in Sikar district, Imran Nawab from Kaman in Bharatpur district and Jameel Khan from Jaipur’s Hawa Mahal constituency.
The party is likely to contest from 30 constituencies, Jameel Khan, state president, AIMIM told DH. AIMIM president Asaududdin Owaisi is scheduled to visit Rajasthan on Oct 21 and 22 to campaign for the candidates.
“We will go to the people, not just Muslims but all backward classes and minorities with the agenda of development. Both BJP and Congress have been ruling in the state for the last 25 years but just go to the areas where minorities live, they remain as under-developed as ever. We still need basic amenities like schools, clean localities, drinking water, hospitals in these areas. Drug mafia has infested these areas,” adds Jameel Khan.
Talking about the minority budget, he says this time the budget has been increased to Rs 250 crore from last Budget’s Rs 99 crore. Muslims comprise 10 per cent of the total population (9.07 per cent according to 2011 Census), we have a population around 65 lakh in Rajasthan. This is way too less. In Telangana, which has a Muslim population of about 45 lakh, the minority budget allocation is Rs 2,200 crore, that is around 15 per cent more than in Rajasthan. The allocation should be nothing less than Rs 3,500 crore if population is kept in mind. We have welfare, social security and upliftment of our community in mind.”
Refuting claims that AIMIM acts as B-team of BJP, Khan adds Congress has always followed an appeasement policy. "The Congress MLAs do not work for their community but only for the Congress Party. They are just Congress Party MLA and nothing else. They fall upon the minorities to garner votes and then forget about them. Even Rahul Gandhi had to go for the safe seat Wayanad where the Muslim population is around 45 per cent. Why would we cut into the vote bank of Congress? We are fighting to win.”
There is scepticism about the new entrant into the political landscape of Rajasthan.
Dr Salim Engineer, national vice-president, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, says: “Entry of AIMIM is not going to affect the two other parties. Only if the candidates are not chosen properly in the minority dominated constituencies, does AIMIM have a slight chance of winning. Both big parties have not given tickets to Muslim candidates commensurate with the population.”
Muslim voters hold sway in about 36 seats across the state. Both parties Congress and BJP have given a total of 94 seats to Muslim candidates in the last five elections (from 1998 to 2018).
In 2018, Congress gave 15 tickets in constituencies which have over 10 to 24 per cent Muslim population, out of which only seven could win. BJP gave a single ticket to minister Yunus Khan, who was pitted against Congress state president Sachin Pilot. Khan lost from Tonk, which has around 11 per cent Muslim population.
AIMIM is eyeing seats in Tonk, Kaman, Didwana, Masuda, Pushkar, Nagaur, Chohatan, Sheo, Sursagar, Pokhran, Nagar and Adarsh Nagar in Jaipur and others.
BJP has always criticised the Congress for indulging in appeasement politics. In early October, Gehlot had announced Rs 50 lakh compensation for the family of a road rage victim in Jaipur.
In 2022, Gehlot gave the go-ahead to a proposal for spending Rs 98.55 crore in various schemes from a fund of Rs 100 crore set up for the inclusive development of the minority community in the state.
Dr Engineer, says: “This appeasement policy is a false propaganda by the BJP to polarise voters. No party has done enough as per the Constitution. Much more needs to be done.”