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Delhi elections: Mustafabad, Baburpur, Seelampur, Okhla, Chandni Chowk, Matia Mahal and Balimaran are the seven minority-dominated constituencies
Mustafabad is one of the seven constituencies. (News18)
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has over the past 10 years emerged as the clear favourite in the Muslim-dominated seven seats in the national capital. However, this election, an unlikely party mounted more than a month-long exercise across Delhi, but particularly concentrated on these seven seats, to convince them to vote for them and, if unable to do so, not vote for the AAP — the BJP’s minority morcha.
The morcha has not been functioning with huge human resources and the massive BJP campaign paraphernalia. Instead, they are operating in groups of four or six, deep inside the bylanes of what are known as Delhi’s Muslim ghettos to convince them to ditch their old preference — AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal.
Mustafabad, Baburpur, Seelampur, Okhla, Chandni Chowk, Matia Mahal and Balimaran are the seven minority-dominated constituencies. While in 2015, Mustafabad was held by the BJP, in 2020, the AAP snatched it away. Gopal Rai of the AAP won Baburpur in the past two terms, while Seelampur, too, has stayed with the AAP for the past 10 years. AAP’s Amanatullah Khan held his grip over Okhla for the last decade. The AAP held its sway over Chandni Chowk, Matia Mahal and Balimaran for the past 10 years.
THE TWO-TRACK APPROACH
The focus of the BJP this time was stressing on what it called ‘labharthi yojna’ recipients, filling forms for those eligible as its track one method. Here, the party tried to woo them into the fold. If it sensed hostility, the cadres of minority morcha shifted to track two, where they exploited the lingering anger among the Muslim community against the AAP and pushed them towards any third political outfit the voter felt comfortable with. In most Muslim-dominated seats, the Congress and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) are fighting the AAP this time, which the morcha has been subtly exploiting.
The morcha has held at least 60-70 small meetings in each assembly constituency so far.
“For instance, this morning, I was in Qureshinagar Mandal which falls under the Balimaran assembly seat where many residents were recipients of gas cylinders of Ujwala Yojana. They are some 20-25 families. I went there and held a drawing-room meeting with them, telling them how the BJP could change their lives,” Anees Abbasi, Delhi BJP’s Minority Morcha President told News18, while elaborating on track one.
PANNA PRAMUKH
The minority morcha has been engaging with panna pramukh in the absence of a regular party structure in such minority-dominated seats. A panna pramukh is a person who is responsible for all the names printed on a certain page or ‘panna’ of an electoral roll. He will be responsible for maintaining a cordial relationship with them, helping them with emergencies, on voting day and motivating them to vote first and vote for the BJP.
In a regular seat, panna pramukhs are not in touch with minority morchas. But these seats are different. “There are certain booths that are entirely Muslim-dominated. Our morcha has already gone and met the panna pramukhs and held meetings with the booth presidents multiple times. We are better prepared,” Abbasi insisted.
AIMIM & LOCAL SENTIMENT
The entry of the AIMIM has complicated the equation in North-East Delhi where the BJP hopes to better its tally this time. Delhi riots and UAPA accused former AAP leader Tahir Hussain is fighting on an AIMIM ticket from Mustafabad. Although the AIMIM planned to contest 12 assembly constituencies, it confined itself to only two seats now.
News18 found that there has been widespread disenchantment to anger among the capital’s Muslims towards the AAP and Kejriwal. The community holds the former Delhi CM responsible for the Delhi riots in which both Hindus and Muslims bore the brunt, but Muslims believe they have lost way more and been compensated way less.
A small section of the community feels that there’s a growing trend where Kejriwal is mimicking the BJP’s Hindutva, while many Muslims are pragmatic enough to see through the political compulsion. But there is a sense of fear to talk on record among most Muslims. Many Muslims praised the BJP’s development work such as “subsidised flats in place of slums”, but most still shy away from committing to voting for the BJP.
“One of the recipients of flats the Prime Minister recently distributed in Rohini was a Muslim — Rashid Saab. Our team has been carrying his photo whenever we are visiting Muslim slums to drive home the point,” Abbasi added.
So, what big change has been seen this time? “Musalmanon se samvad huya. When we asked who you would vote for, they said it would definitely not be Kejriwal. But many are undecided yet,” he added.
Meanwhile, the BJP’s minority wing plans to send a few teams in each of these seven assembly seats’ main mosques on the morning of February 5 (voting day) for the first azaan.
