Battle for the ‘quiet minority’ votes poised to be an intense one in Uttarakhand

DEHRADUN/ROORKEE/RUDRAPUR: Uttarakhand's Muslim voters -- at almost 14% of the population -- have till now remained a quiet minority in the hill state, but with consolidation of the community’s population in many districts like Udham Singh Nagar, Haridwar, Nainital and Dehradun due to a steady influx from adjoining areas of west UP like Saharanpur, Bijnor, Moradabad and Bareilly over the past decade, the community has emerged as a substantive vote-bank which many parties try to woo.
The battle for Muslim votes in the state like the last three elections is likely to be fought between the Congress and BSP. According to Congress spokesman Mathura Dutt Joshi, several Muslim leaders have sought Congress tickets this time. “The prominent names are Furkhan Ahmed from Piran Kaliyar, Yakuq Siddiqui and Mohammad Gulzar from Sahaspur, Qazi Nizamuddin from Manglaur, Mohammad Tahir from Laksar, Mohammad Irshad from Haridwar rural, Yunus Chaudhary from Jaspur, Sarvar Yaar Khan from Kichha and Wahid-ul-lah Khan from Khatima,” he said.
BSP has finalised the names of Sarvat Karim Ansari from Manglaur, Mufti Riyasat from Khanpur as well as Mukarram Ali from Haridwar (rural).
Historically, BSP has been strong in the Haridwar area where the Dalit-Muslim vote combination has helped them sail through. The Muslim population in the area is 6.48 lakh as per the 2011 census while Dalits constitute about 4 lakh. In 2002 as well as 2007, BSP candidates Qazi Nizamuddin, Mohammad Shahzad and Tasleem Ahmed had won from the area while in 2012, Congress got its first win when Furkhan Ahmed won the Piran Kaliyar seat.
This time around, more than a dozen Muslim candidates are expected to file their candidature on various seats of Haridwar district. However, according to sources, most of these candidates might enter the fray as independents once the Congress and BSP announce their final nominees.
In Udham Singh Nagar district, which currently has a Muslim population of over 3.70 lakh (which is around 25% of the district's total population) as well as the adjoining district of Nainital (over one lakh Muslim voters), a similar battle between Congress and BSP is likely to be fought. According to a BSP leader who did not wish to be named, out of the nine assembly seats in Udham Singh Nagar, the minority community would be a deciding factor in at least six seats. “Jaspur and Kiccha, in particular, which have a sizeable Muslim population would be key constituencies,” he added.
In this scheme of things, BJP which had done well in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections riding on a Modi wave, is counting on a split of the Muslim vote bank between Congress and BSP that might give it some advantage. In 2012, the party had given just one ticket to a Muslim candidate -- Kaleem Ansari who lost from Manglaur. According to Ansari, the party which is going to the polls with a development-oriented campaign plan this time, should target voters in the community with whom such issues resonate. “The party should have faith in more leaders from the community. If as much as 14 % of the population doesn’t find adequate representation in the party, then it has no option but to choose other parties which promise the same thing in every election. In view of this, the BJP should rework its strategy with respect to the Muslim community in Uttarakhand,” he added.