BJP's Muslim candidates score big in Gujarat local body polls. Here's why

In 2018, the BJP’s share was 18% but it went up to 28% this time.

A record 82 Muslim candidates won the recently held municipal elections across 66 municipalities on BJP tickets in Gujarat. The BJP won 1,608 of the 2,171 seats across municipalities, municipal corporations, and districts and taluka panchayats.

What happened in 2018?

The elections were held in these municipalities in 2018. However, this time, the number of Muslim candidates elected on the BJP ticket went up. In 2018, 46 Muslims won on the BJP ticket across 75 municipalities, including the 66 that voted this year.  This time, the BJP had fielded 103 Muslim candidates. Several of these candidates contested from municipalities in the districts of Patan, Kheda, Panchmahal, and Junagadh where no Muslim BJP candidates were elected last time.

“The Muslims of Gujarat had made up their mind about wanting the development politics of the BJP, against the appeasement politics of the Congress. The Muslim community has benefited from government schemes of the state and Central governments. We, as Muslims, feel that the BJP does not discriminate against us and wholeheartedly gave us the benefits of schemes,” BJP’s state minority cell president, Mohsin Lokhandwala, told Indian Express.

Vote share

In 2018, the BJP’s share was 18% but it went up to 28% this time. The Congress’s share continued to be at 39% and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was at 4.7%. The AAP had 13 Muslim winners, including 11 in Salaya municipality in Jamnagar. The BJP drew a blank in Salaya.

 New faces in nine seats

The BJP will have its Muslim councillors in nine new seats across three municipalities in Kheda district, five in Patan’s Radhanpur district, six in Junagadh municipality of Vanthali, and five in two municipalities in Panchmahal district. The BJP’s Muslim candidates also won in the coastal districts of Gir Somnath and Jamnagar.

What made BJP win Jamnagar?

The local administration had recently carried out large-scale demolitions to free government land of encroachments in Jamnagar and Gir Somanth. It was reportedly assumed that such a move may impact BJP’ss prospect in this seat as it was seen as “targeting a particular community”.

State BJP vice-president Jishan Naqvi who is from Kodinar in Gir Somnath, told Indian Express that there was anger among Muslims about the religious structures razed by the district administration. “We were also unhappy with such a step. In our campaign, we convinced the voters to look ahead, be practical, and instead of neglecting the BJP, support it. If we walk with the BJP, we will see development in our wards and even our issues will be sorted out. Two of our candidates (in Kodinar) won uncontested as the Congress candidates withdrew,” he told IE.

Why was the shift in Muslim votes?

The Congress won 632 of the 2064 municipality seats in 2018 but its tally fell to 252. The number of Congress Muslim winners also went down from 133 to 109.

The lone Congress Muslim MLA in the Gujarat Assembly, Imran Khedawala, told IE that many of the party’s Muslim candidates did not contest on the Congress symbol and won as Independents. “Their priority is to get work done in their areas,” he said.

In the book, India’s 2014 Elections — A Modi-led BJP Sweep, one of the chapters written by Professor Ghanshyam Shah, a former professor of social science at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, wrote about the Salaya municipality. The book stated that the municipality remained unaffected by the 2002 riots and was governed by the Congress till 2010.

“A few Muslim leaders moved to the BJP after the 2007 Assembly elections. In 2008, for the first time, four Muslims contested municipal elections for the BJP and won. Then, the town started receiving state government funds for infrastructure development. Such tangible benefits convinced other Muslims to join the party. In 2013, BJP won 24 of 27 municipal seats,” he stated.

This shift  also indicated growing minority support for BJP despite controversies such as the Uniform Civil Code and triple talaq.