Will lack of Muslim candidates dent Congress's prospects in Maharashtra?

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge

In Mumbai, a city boasting six Lok Sabha constituencies and the Muslim population exceeding 2.5 million, a troubling trend persists: lack of Muslim candidates fielded by major political parties. This echoes the scenario of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, where prospects for Muslim representation remained bleak.

Among the parties drawing criticism for this lack of inclusion is the Congress, which has historically relied on the Muslim electorate for electoral success. Despite this, the party has failed to field candidates from the community across the seats it contests. This oversight has sparked internal discontent within the party, with Muslim leaders feeling marginalized.

Within the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition's seat-sharing arrangement, the Congress is allotted two seats in Mumbai: the Mumbai North Lok Sabha seat and the Mumbai North-Central Lok Sabha seat, while other seats are allocated to the Shiv Sena (UBT). While the candidate for the former remains undisclosed, the recent announcement of Varsha Gaikwad, Mumbai Congress chief and former minister, as the candidate for the latter has exacerbated tensions within the party. Arif Naseem Khan, another former minister, had hoped for the nomination but was disheartened by Gaikwad's selection, prompting him to withdraw from the party's electoral campaign remarking that "Congress wants Muslim votes and not Muslim candidate."

Arif Naseem Khan is a prominent Muslim name in the Maharashtra Congress and is Working President of the party's state unit. He has been elected four times as an MLA since 1999 and was defeated by the Shiv Sena candidate Dilip Lande in the 2019 assembly polls by mere 409 votes. Since the constituency has a sizeable number of Muslim voters, Khan believed that winning the election would be a cakewalk for him.

The incumbent MP Poonam Mahajan had led to an anti-incumbency against the BJP and Khan was confident of success by riding over the sentiments. The senior Congress leaders including Varsha Gaikwad met Khan to pacify him but has refused to budge. There was a speculation that Khan was denied candidature due to pressure from the alliance partner Shiv Sena (UBT), however, the party has denied that it has nothing to do with the matter and denying candidature to Khan was an internal issue of the Congress party.

Khan's sentiments reflect a broader disillusionment among Muslim leaders regarding the Congress's disregard for their representation. Previously, Jeeshan Siddhique, Congress MLA of Bandra-East, voiced similar grievances after being removed as the leader of Youth Congress. He also objected over the party's alliance with Shiv Sena (UBT) which proudly takes credit of demolishing the Babri mosque. Just a few days ago, his father, Baba Siddhique also quit Congress and joined Ajit Pawar's NCP. Siddhique was a former MLA, ex-minister and a prominent Muslim face of Congress in Mumbai. His son Jeeshan is also likely to quit the party before the Vidhan Sabha elections. Siddhique's discontent highlights a pattern of dissent among influential Muslim figures within the party, exacerbating internal rifts.

The issue extends beyond Mumbai, encompassing the wider landscape of Maharashtra politics, where major parties have consistently overlooked Muslim candidates. The exception lies with the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), which has provided candidacy to Muslims in several constituencies, including Abul Hasan Khan in Mumbai South-Central. In response to Khan's outcry, Congress MLAs Amin Patel and Aslam Shaikh have been tasked with damage control, aiming to retain the loyalty of Mumbai's Muslim electorate.