MIM makes Congress bleed in Marathwada

AURANGABAD: The Hyderabad based Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) made inroads into the Congress bastion in the Marathwada region, inflicting defeat on the party in at least six seats. Former school education minister Rajendra Darda lost the Aurangabad East seat and was pushed to third position, while the BJP could win the seats thanks to MIM eating into traditional Congress votes.
MIM had fielded six candidates in the Muslim-dominated pockets of the region — Nanded South, Nanded North, Parbhani, Aurangabad Central, Aurangabad East and Aurangabad West making it difficult for the Congress to increase its tally.
Though the MIM could win just the Aurangabad Central seat (Imtiyaz Jaleel) by a margin of over 20,000 votes, its entry has shaken the very base of the Congress, especially in Nanded and Aurangabad districts.
Most shocking was the defeat of Darda, who came third with around 21,000 votes while MIM nominee Dr Abdul Gaffar Quadri walked away with over 60,000 votes, most of which traditionally went to Darda. The Congress strongman was seeking his fourth term. Quadri lost to the BJP’s Atul Save by a margin of over 4,000 votes.
In Aurangabad West, the MIM was behind the defeat of Congress candidate Jitendra Dehade and the NCP’s Milind Dabhade, who were banking on Muslim votes. Most of these votes went to MIM-supported candidate Gangadhar Gade, a senior Dalit leader.
In Nanded, ex-minister D P Sawant, a close confidante of former chief minister Ashok Chavan, managed to retain his seat with difficulty by a margin of 6,000 votes. However, Omprakash Pokarna, another Chavan lieutenant and sitting MLA, was pushed to fourth position in Nanded south. Shiv Sena nominee Hemant Patil managed to win the seat by a narrow margin of about 3,000 votes by defeating his nearest rival Dilip Kundakurte of the BJP. MIM’s Syed Moin put up an impressive performance and bagged over 34,000 votes. Both the constituencies in Nanded have sizeable Muslim population.
In Parbhani, Rahul Patil of the Shiv Sena won by defeating MIM nominee Sajju Lala by a narrow margin. The NCP and Congress nominees were not even in the picture.
“MIM’s entry is set to affect the Congress’s prospects in the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation elections due in March 2015. It was mainly a strong anti-incumbency factor which led to the party’s humiliating defeat in many areas,” said a Congress leader on the condition of anonymity. “The Muslims here were fed up with the Congress which cited that the communal forces would be strengthened if the party was not given votes. Muslims came out of that fear psychosis and opted for the MIM,” the leader added.
MIM’s entry is set to affect the Congress’s prospects in the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation elections due in March 2015. It was mainly a strong anti-incumbency factor which led to the party’s humiliating defeat in many areas. — Congress leader