Syed Khalique Ahmed
NEW DELHI—While BJP has won majority in all the six municipal corporations-Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar and Rajkot-All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimin (AIMIM) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) opened their accounts for the first time in civic body polls in Gujarat.
AIMIM won all the four seats in Jamalpur ward considered to be the Congress bastion, the Hyderabad-based party led by Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi won three seats in Muslim-dominated Maktampura ward, thus giving a serious setback to the Congress party in Ahmedabad. Maktampura ward had elected Congress candidates in the past. One of AIMIM winners from Jamalpur ward happens to be a Dalit woman.
The Congress candidates, however, won from Muslim dominated Behrampura and Dariyapur municipal wards. The results from another Muslim-dominated ward-Gomtipur-was yet to be announced.
AIMIM had not fielded candidates from the remaining five municipal corporations.
Owaisi was in Gujarat today and addressed a public meeting in state’s Modasa town, bordering Rajasthan.
The astounding results must be an eye-opener for the Congress that always neglected the Muslims in allotment of positions in municipal bodies taking their support for granted in the absence of any third party.
Commenting on AIMIM victory, social and political activist Kalim Siddiqui said that the Congress required to have been defeated from the Muslim areas because the party was not giving any important position in municipal bodies though majority of the elected representatives of the Congress in all the municipal corporations had been Muslims. Noted social and political activist Ikram Beg Miriza also echoed the views of Siddiqui.
AAP has won 27 seats in Surat Municipal Corporation, emerging as number two party in Surat, replacing the Congress.
According to latest information shared by the State Election Commission, BJP won 104 seats and was leading on 54 other seats in AMC out of a total of 192 seats in the House, won 57 seats out of a total of 76 in Vadodara Municipal Corporation, won 82 seats and was leading on 11 other seats out of a total of 120 seats in Surat Municipal Corporation, won 44 seats out of a total 54 in Bhavnagar Municipal Corporation, won 50 seats out of a total of 64 in Jamnagar and 68 out of a total of 72 in Rajkot.
