Yet again, the BJP has chosen not to field a Muslim candidate for the Assembly elections in Gujarat. Still, the community has a reason to chose the saffron party over the Congress, which has as many as six Muslim nominees.

Residents in the Muslim-dominated constituencies of the State say putting up a candidate from the community as a candidate may not work for the Congress in the elections next month.

“Peace is what gives the BJP points. We have seen the worst of riots and curfews. Life has improved for better with dependable electricity. Our kids have a safe future, unlike many of us, who have lived under the fear of violence,” said Shabina (name changed) a resident of Juhapura, a Muslim locality in western Ahmedabad. As for the housewives, the safe future of their kids and family assumed priority in the current Assembly polls; they also raised questions on the approach of the government on welfare schemes for the community. “Free investigations at government hospitals has benefited us a lot. But there is no relief on the prices of medicines despite the Jan Aushadhi Kendras as we don’t have any in the neighbourhood,” said one of Shabina’s neighbours.

Echoing similar sentiments, a 75-year-old social worker and resident of Dariapur constituency, Azizbhai Gandhi said poverty and unemployment among the youth was its peak during the communal tensions of the late 1990s. “Our primary need is not political representation, but peace. As a result of prolonged communal peace, we have eight girls with engineering degrees and six CAs in our locality in the past 12 years. We don’t want to hamper this scenario after whoever comes to power,” said Gandhi.

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Gandhi was among Muslim leaders who led the voluntary ‘Muslim Janta Curfew’ in 1990s for the safe passage of the famous Jagannath Yatra procession in Ahmedabad. “Our efforts towards communal harmony was well received by the government and the other community members.”

Clearly, the minority politics has taken a back-seat in the caste-dominated and ‘vikas’ or development-driven poll campaigning by the two major parties. However, a look at electoral trends over the years reveals that the Congress has been heavily dependent on Muslim candidates since the time of Madhavsinh Solanki in 1985, when 10 tickets were given to candidates from the community, the most ever. The strategy was influenced by Solanki’s KHAM (Kshatriya, Harijan, Adivasi and Muslim) theory. Since then, the number of Muslim candidates has fallen, with the 2012 elections seeing only five candidates being fielded, of which two lost.

For businesses run by Muslims, it is infrastructure, in the form of connectivity and transport, that has boosted their prospects after the riots of 2002. However, a walk-through a Muslim-dominated business area revealed a different mood. Traders felt harassed by the measures such as demonetisation and the complexities faced by the Goods and Services Tax (GST) roll-out. With limited resources and education, traders have found it tough to swiftly turn to new systems.

Sultan Ahmed, a garment retailer in Shahpur area of Ahmedabad says, “There is less education among youth. And higher education is becoming costly. Most of us are employed in small businesses. But post 2002, there has been good awareness in the community and we are looking ahead to the future than getting into the communal politics.”

Our primary need is not political representation, but peace. As a result of prolonged communal peace, we have eight girls with engineering degrees and six CAs in our locality in the past 12 years. We don’t want to affect this scenario

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