Ahmedabad: With the announcement of the dates for the Gujarat assembly elections, all political parties have stepped up their campaigning to woo the voters. Amidst all this, most of the political parties, especially Congress and AAP are focusing on Muslim votes. Explain that, the Muslim community in Gujarat is about nine percent of the total population of the state.
But, on the contrary, the number of Muslim candidates of the Congress has halved since 1995, while the BJP has given ticket to only one Muslim candidate. Although BJP's politics has never been focused on Muslim votes, Congress, which does politics on Muslim issues, has also not expressed confidence in more Muslim candidates. Out of total 182 assembly seats in Gujarat, Congress has given tickets to only 6 Muslim candidates this time.
At the same time, BJP has also fielded a Christian candidate from Vyara constituency after two decades. The BJP last fielded a Muslim candidate in 1998 from the Vagra assembly seat. On the other hand, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded three Muslims, while the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has given tickets to 11 Muslim candidates out of a total of 13 nominations. At the same time, many leaders of the Muslim community are also fighting as independents, which can dent the vote bank of Congress.
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