This time in the Gujarat Assembly elections, AAP is not the only party that is being discussed, another party seems to have joined the fray. It is Asaduddin Owaisi’s party – All India Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimin. AIMIM is contesting the assembly elections this time and the party has fielded candidates for a total of 14 seats out of 182 in cities including Surat, and Ahmedabad.
Out of these 14 seats, 12 seats have Muslim candidates, while the remaining two seats have Hindu candidates. Both these seats are SC reserved seats. Talking about the more discussed seats, these include Danilimda, Bapunagar, Jamalpur Khadia, Vejalpur, etc. in Ahmedabad, while Limbayat and Surat (East) seats of Surat are also included.
OpIndia has already done a detailed ground report on what Muslim voters think about AIMIM in Ahmedabad seats. Now, OpIndia got details from the ground to know how AIMIM is performing in both the seats of Surat and especially among Muslim voters.
There are two assembly seats of Surat city – Limbayat and Surat (East) seats where Muslim voters are in large proportion. AIMIM has fielded its candidates for both of these seats. Many leaders ranging from party president and MP Asaduddin Owaisi are making efforts to campaign for these candidates. Owaisi has also held a meeting in Surat.
In the recently held meeting of Asaduddin Owaisi, there was a lot of discussion about the protest registered by waving black flags. There was a similar response from the people when we spoke on the ground.
‘BJP is stronger. AIMIM will hardly win a booth or two’
A local named Azharbhai of Limbayat constituency said that the seat is witnessing a fight between the BJP and Congress. He said that even among them, the Congress party does not have a good and big face this time. As a result, BJP’s Sangeetaben Patil is being seen getting more public support.
Talking about AIMIM, he said, “The party is not active even at the booth level, and in these circumstances, forget winning the assembly, even 1-2 booths can barely win. They (AIMIM) cannot even win the corporation elections.” He added that in the last municipal elections, all four seats in his ward were won by the BJP.
Talking about which party has the support of the Muslim community, he says that the inclination of the community towards the Congress party is more visible. On the support to AIMIM, he said that if only 2,000 of the thousands of Muslim voters support it, their chances of winning are very low.
Another local from Limbayat, on condition of anonymity, says that Muslim voters here have more support for the Congress as the fight will be seen between the BJP and the Congress. On AIMIM, he said that in the Muslim community, only those who are unhappy with Congress can vote for AIMIM.
A total of 44 candidates including 34 independents
The BJP has given a ticket to sitting MLA Sangeetaben Patil from the Limbayat seat. Gopal Patil has been fielded from Congress. AIMIM’s Abdul Bashir Sheikh and Aam Aadmi Party’s Pankaj Tayade have been given tickets. Apart from this, the total number of candidates including those from small and big parties and 34 independent candidates reaches 44.
Talking about demography here, Sheikh voters have the highest number (11.17 percent). Patil voters constitute a good number of votes (9 percent). In this seat, it is the Muslim and Patil votes that decide the result of the election.
This constituency was formed in the year 2012. Since then, BJP’s Sangeetaben Patil has been winning from here for two consecutive terms. However, this time, Asaduddin Owaisi has taken efforts to infiltrate the BJP stronghold, but he does not seem to be getting much support.
Surat East Assembly Constituency
The other seat in Surat, where candidates have been fielded by AIMIM, is Surat (East). Muslim votes play a crucial role in this seat as well. Apart from this, the votes of the Rana community are also in second place. Besides, there are also votes of various Hindu castes.
A total of 14 candidates will contest the elections here. The BJP has given a ticket to sitting MLA Arvind Rana. Congress has fielded Aslam Cyclewala, while AIMIM has fielded Wasim Qureshi. The Aam Aadmi Party left the battlefield even before the elections.
The fight is between BJP and Congress; AIMIM has no existence
Talking about the meeting, Sahil, a local man, said that there will be a fight between the BJP and the Congress. “There is no existence of any third party AIMIM or Aam Aadmi Party,” he said.
He added, “What does the AIMIM party candidate bring for us? He should first tell what work he has done in this area. Now that the elections have come, they have come to seek votes. They don’t exist here. It looks like either the BJP or the Congress party will win here.”
Regarding the AIMIM candidate, he said, “We do not know whether their candidate is local or not. How do we vote for him in these circumstances?”
The Aam Aadmi Party had fielded a candidate here, but after the high-voltage drama, its candidate withdrew the name. After that, the dummy candidate also withdrew, and now the party is out of the fight. However, Sahil talks about the AAP and says that he has never seen an AAP candidate in the area. “Even if they (Aam Aadmi Party) had fielded a candidate, they would not get any votes,” he said.
Talking to some others, it was found that both the seats are still witnessing a fight between the BJP and Congress. Neither AIMIM nor Aam Aadmi Party, or any other party is getting much support. For AIMIM, Muslim voters are their core voters, but they also do not seem to be showing much interest in Owaisi’s party.
Gujarat will go to polls in two phases on December 1 and 5. In the first phase, 93 seats in Saurashtra and South Gujarat and in the second phase, 89 seats in North and Central Gujarat will go to polls. The results will be declared on December 8.
