Cong has fielded 9 Muslims in Maharashtra, Ajit NCP 5, BJP 0 | India News – Times of India

NAGPUR: As Maharashtra gears up for assembly elections, data shows there is a strong under-representation of Muslim candidates, who constitute only about 10% of the total participants, according to the state’s election department. Of the 4,136 candidates vying for seats in 288 constituencies, only 420 are Muslims, and more than half of these are running independently.
Major parties have submitted relatively few. The Congress has fielded only nine Muslim candidates while the BJP has fielded none. However, NCP led by Ajit Pawar has given tickets to five, which is a departure from ally BJP’s approach.
Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM has fielded the highest number of Muslim candidates among the parties at 16, while smaller parties fielded 150. Of the 420 Muslim candidates, 218 are running independently.
A TOI analysis of the data showed that over 150 constituencies do not have a single Muslim candidate, while nearly 50 constituencies have only one in the race. In many areas the numbers have thinned even further, although five constituencies differ, with seven Muslim candidates each.
Malegaon Central is an exception to the state’s broader trends as all thirteen candidates are Muslims. Aurangabad East also has a higher than average number of minority candidates: 17 of the 29 candidates for this seat are Muslim, three of whom are women.
Across Maharashtra, Muslim women are severely underrepresented; they make up only 22 of the total candidate pool. This means that approximately 0.5% of all candidates are Muslim women. Of the 288 constituencies, 270 do not have even one Muslim woman candidate, independent or party-affiliated.
According to former minister Anees Ahemad, the financial demands of the elections make them “out of reach for most middle-class candidates, especially from minority communities”. He said: “We need to encourage minority women to come forward, but the high costs often hold them back.”