In advance of the state assembly elections in Maharashtra on November 20, the All India Ulema Board endorsed the Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance on Friday, November 8. In the forthcoming elections to form the government, the Board has declared that it will back the MVA candidates from the Congress, NCP (Sharad Pawar), and Shiv Sena (UBT). This assistance is not unqualified, though.
The Ulema Board made several pro-Muslim demands in the formal letter to the party leaders, and it asked them to meet them to gain Muslim support during the elections. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha (RSS) ban is one of them. Out of the 17 requirements, the Ulema Board placed the following nine essential requirements on the MVA:
- The Ulema Board has encouraged the MVA to oppose and seek the repeal of the Waqf Amendment Bill.
- The Ulema Board has asked the Maharashtra government to give the Maharashtra Waqf Board Rs 1,000 crores.
- The Ulema Board pushes for legislation in the Maharashtra Assembly to eradicate encroachments from Waqf properties.
- In Maharashtra, the Board is advocating for a 10% Muslim reservation.
The Ulema Board insists that Muslims with higher levels of education be given preference when hiring state police. - After the MVA administration is formed, the Ulema Board wants to prohibit the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
- The Board demands that Salman Azheri, who has been sued for his divisive remarks, be freed and that BJP leaders Nitesh Rane and Ramgiri Maharaj be imprisoned immediately.
- The Board has requested that the state enact legislation that would punish anyone who criticises the Prophet Mohammed.
- Additionally, the Board requests that the state give the Maulana and Imams of the state’s functioning mosques Rs 15,000 a month.
It is thought that NCP leader Sharad Pawar has acknowledged the situation and appreciated the Ulema’s assistance. He has written to the Ulema Board to emphasise how crucial the Board’s backing is.
To mobilise Muslim votes in favour of the MVA in the state elections, around 180 “NGOs” are operating on the ground. The aforementioned “NGOs” are especially targeting the Muslim population to generate “awareness” and voter turnout against the BJP, a tactic that aided the MVA led by the Congress in the just finished Lok Sabha elections.
Voter turnout in the Lok Sabha election was reportedly much greater in primarily Muslim localities like Shivaji Nagar, Mumbadevi, Byculla, and Malegaon Central than in adjacent assembly segments. With focused efforts over the past year, the Muslim community’s increased “awareness” and worries have been credited with this growth.
Working with more than 180 NGOs, the Marathi Muslim Seva Sangh (MMSS) has been aggressively promoting voter registration in Muslim communities. The group has organised gatherings and informational sessions for Muslim voters across the state to raise “vote awareness,” urging them to support the MVA alliance run by the Congress.
Because of these initiatives, the voter turnout in the Lok Sabha election was above 60%, 15% more than historically. We urge Muslims to vote according to constitutional principles and to back secular candidates. Our cooperation with religious leaders and other organisations has resulted in a more robust reaction. The organisation’s head, Fakir Mehmood Thakur, said, “The rise in turnout is a result of the more than 200 meetings that have been held nationwide.
Thakur further emphasised that the high voter turnout in the Lok Sabha elections resulted from Muslim voters’ concerns over central government initiatives, such as the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). He went on to say that these concerns are still pertinent in light of the current state elections.
Additionally, a study by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) on November 5 found that Muslims and undocumented immigrants in Mumbai are influencing politics and changing the region’s demographics by supporting particular political parties. According to the study, which was carried out by assistant professor Souvik Mondal and TISS pro-vice-chancellor Shankar Das, illegal immigrants are also having an impact on the city’s socioeconomic structure by taking low-skilled jobs, which suppresses wages and irritates residents.
It is claimed that certain political organisations engage in vote-bank tactics by using illegal immigrants, which might sabotage the democratic process. The report said that allegations of voter registration manipulation, in which unauthorised immigrants purportedly get phoney voter IDs, raise questions regarding the integrity of India’s democratic system and election fairness.
Following the conclusion of the May–June 2024 Lok Sabha elections, OpIndia stated that Muslims in the state of Maharashtra have organised to defeat the BJP especially. Islamists had pushed voters to support the Shiv Sena (UBT), INC, and NCP (Sharad Pawar), issued fatwas, and flown Islamic flags during MVA rallies. Several NGOs are urging Muslims to vote against the BJP this time around under the auspices of the Marathi Muslim Seva Sangh, a strategy known as “vote jihad” that leftist Islamists and those who support it deny.
On November 20, the 288 seats in the legislative assembly will be up for election in a single phase, and on November 23, the ballots will be counted.
