Congress MLA from Malad Aslam Shaikh
Credit: X/@AslamShaikh_MLA
Mumbai: Ten Muslim MLAs entered the 15th Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from the 400-plus candidates who were in fray among the total 4,136 candidates. The tally matches with the outgoing 14th Maharashtra Legislative Assembly - which too had 10 Muslim MLAs.
The new MLAs include three from the Congress - Amin Patil (Mumbadevi), Aslam Shaikh (Malad) and Sajid Pathan (Akola West).
The other Muslim MLAs include two from the Ajit Pawar-led NCP - Sana Malik (Anushaktinagar) and Hasan Mushrif (Kagal), two from Samajwadi Party - Abu Asim Azmi (Mankhurd-Shivajinagar) and Rais Shaikh (Bhiwandi East), one from Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena - Abdul Sattar (Sillod), Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM’s Mufti Mohammad Ismail Abdul Khalique (Malegaon Central) and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Haroon Khan (Versova).
Two sitting MLAs lost the polls including Nawab Malik of NCP, who was defeated by Azmi from Mankhurd Shivajinagar; however, his daughter Sana Malik won the seat against Fahad Ahmed of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP).
The other was Zeeshan Shaikh, who was suspended by Congress for allegedly cross-voting in Council polls but later joined the NCP. He was shocked by Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Varun Sardesai.
After the 2014 and 2019 polls, the Muslim representation was 9 and 10, respectively, in the 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
Of the total around 13 crore plus population of Maharashtra, Muslims account for around 12 per cent.
“Over the years, the Muslim community has voted after looking at pros and cons. This time would be no different. But it needs to be understood that Lok Sabha polls and Vidhan Sabha polls are different. The numbers remained the same,” said Aejaz Ahmed Ansari, a veteran Urdu journalist and political commentator.
One of the key issues is that the Muslim community - irrespective of party affiliations are demanding reservation in jobs and education.
Maharashtra Assembly poll 2024 results | Check constituency results here
Jharkhand Assembly poll 2024 results | Check constituency results here
Bypoll 2024 results | Check Karnataka results here
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls took place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP went up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress tried to make their mark. Maha Yuti are currently comfortably poised to win. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faced a challenge after Hemant Soren's arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP, but look set to retain power with its I.N.D.I.A. allies. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
Subscribe and follow DH on Whatsapp, X, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram to never miss out on anything.