<p>Thane: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/samajwadi-party">Samajwadi Party</a> legislator Rais Shaikh on Wednesday said the results of assembly constituencies in <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/maharashtra">Maharashtra</a> with a sizable Muslim presence disprove the claim that the minority community votes en mass against the <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/bjp">BJP</a>.</p>.<p>The MLA from Bhiwandi (East) cited voting figures to claim that the BJP-led Mahayuti coalition won 21 out of 38 seats in the November 20 elections where the Muslim population ranges from 20 percent to 52 percent.</p>.<p>Most of the winning candidates were Hindus, Shaikh said in a statement here.</p>.Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024: Impossible to change actual voter turnout, EC assures Congress.<p>"If 'vote Jihad' existed, this would not have been the case. Some Mahayuti candidates won by a margin of as little as 1,500 votes. But the claim of 'vote Jihad' has been used to malign the Muslim community," he alleged.</p>.<p>He himself won in a Muslim-majority constituency by a margin of 52,000 votes, including 18,000 votes from Hindus, the SP MLA said, adding that the BJP's "divisive slogans" such as `Batnege to Katnege' and `Ek Hai Toh Safe Hai" did not have any impact on voters.</p>.<p>On the other hand, Muslim candidates Hasan Mushrif and Abdul Sattar were elected from Hindu-majority Kagal and Sillod seats, respectively, he pointed out.</p>.<p>Shaikh also said that while Muslims are 11.56 percent of Maharashtra's population, their representation in the new assembly is only 3.47 percent.</p>.<p>During the election campaign, BJP leader and then deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had accused the Opposition of trying to polarize voters and said if there was `vote Jihad', it would have to be countered by `dharma yudh' of votes.</p>
<p>Thane: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/samajwadi-party">Samajwadi Party</a> legislator Rais Shaikh on Wednesday said the results of assembly constituencies in <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/maharashtra">Maharashtra</a> with a sizable Muslim presence disprove the claim that the minority community votes en mass against the <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/bjp">BJP</a>.</p>.<p>The MLA from Bhiwandi (East) cited voting figures to claim that the BJP-led Mahayuti coalition won 21 out of 38 seats in the November 20 elections where the Muslim population ranges from 20 percent to 52 percent.</p>.<p>Most of the winning candidates were Hindus, Shaikh said in a statement here.</p>.Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024: Impossible to change actual voter turnout, EC assures Congress.<p>"If 'vote Jihad' existed, this would not have been the case. Some Mahayuti candidates won by a margin of as little as 1,500 votes. But the claim of 'vote Jihad' has been used to malign the Muslim community," he alleged.</p>.<p>He himself won in a Muslim-majority constituency by a margin of 52,000 votes, including 18,000 votes from Hindus, the SP MLA said, adding that the BJP's "divisive slogans" such as `Batnege to Katnege' and `Ek Hai Toh Safe Hai" did not have any impact on voters.</p>.<p>On the other hand, Muslim candidates Hasan Mushrif and Abdul Sattar were elected from Hindu-majority Kagal and Sillod seats, respectively, he pointed out.</p>.<p>Shaikh also said that while Muslims are 11.56 percent of Maharashtra's population, their representation in the new assembly is only 3.47 percent.</p>.<p>During the election campaign, BJP leader and then deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had accused the Opposition of trying to polarize voters and said if there was `vote Jihad', it would have to be countered by `dharma yudh' of votes.</p>