4 Muslims make it to Delhi Assembly; vote split but not enough to dent AAP in Muslim areas

The Delhi Assembly elections witnessed a division of Muslim votes; however, despite this, the AAP managed to secure victory in six out of the seven constituencies with a significant Muslim population.

Four Muslim candidates won seats in the Delhi Assembly, a decline from five in the previous election. The successful candidates were Imran Hussain (AAP) from Ballimaran, Aaley Mohammed Iqbal (AAP) from Matia Mahal, Amanatullah Khan (AAP) from Okhla, and Chaudhary Zubair Ahmad (AAP) from Seelampur.

In 2020, AAP had secured all seven constituencies with a considerable Muslim presence—Okhla, Babarpur, Mustafabad, Seelampur, Matia Mahal, Ballimaran, and Chandni Chowk. This time, it won six, with the exception of Mustafabad, where Muslim votes were divided among AAP, AIMIM, and Congress.

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While the Muslim community largely supported AAP in 2020, their votes were split this time. However, this division was not enough to significantly impact AAP’s performance in Muslim-dominated areas, except in Mustafabad. There, the fragmentation of votes among AAP, AIMIM, and Congress candidates enabled BJP’s Mohan Singh Bisht to secure a decisive victory with a margin of 17,578 votes.

In Mustafabad, Muslim candidates collectively garnered 1,12,874 votes. AIMIM’s Tahir Hussain, who is incarcerated in connection with the 2020 Delhi riots, received 33,474 votes, finishing third. Meanwhile, in other constituencies with substantial Muslim electorates—Okhla, Babarpur, Seelampur, Matia Mahal, Ballimaran, and Chandni Chowk—AAP candidates won by comfortable margins. In Okhla, AIMIM’s Shifa-ur-Rehman finished third with 39,558 votes.

Muslim voters in Delhi largely aligned with three different viewpoints. The first group believed that stopping the BJP was paramount and saw AAP as the only party capable of doing so. The second group felt that AAP had abandoned them during the 2020 riots and accused it of playing a questionable role in blaming the Tablighi Jamaat for the spread of COVID-19. This faction leaned towards the Congress, seeing Rahul Gandhi as a secular leader who advocated for the marginalized. The third viewpoint supported Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM, arguing that neither AAP nor Congress represented Muslim interests. This perspective gained traction as AIMIM fielded candidates who were jailed in connection with the 2020 riots or the CAA-NRC protests.

Ultimately, the dominant sentiment among Muslim voters favored AAP as the best option to prevent the BJP’s rise. Consequently, the party won comfortably in most Muslim-dominated constituencies.

Despite AAP’s success in these seats, the BJP swept the elections overall, reclaiming power in Delhi after more than 26 years. The saffron party’s resounding victory marked a major setback for AAP, whose leadership either faltered or barely survived in the electoral battle.

(With inputs from PTI)