madhya-pradesh-elections

Updated: Nov 28, 2018 12:07 IST

Fatima Siddiqui is confident of winning from Bhopal (north) against Congress five-time legislator Arif Aqueel in the November 28 election to the 230-member assembly in Madhya Pradesh.

She is the only Muslim candidate fielded by the ruling Bharatiya Janata against Congress heavyweight Aqueel in the bastion of the main opposition party.

“There is a huge difference in the Congress at the time of my father and how the party is like right now. The party is not the same and the people have also changed,” Siddiqui, the daughter of former state minister late Rasool Ahmed Siddiqui, said after a rally in the constituency.

“I am getting the love from all communities and it is a matter of good fortune for me,” she said.

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The Congress has three Muslim candidates, Aqueel, the five-time sitting MLA from Bhopal (north), Hamid Haji from Burhanpur, and Arif Masood from Bhopal (Central).

Muslims have only one member (Congress’s Aqueel) from their community in the assembly even though they make up roughly 8-9% of the state’s 78 million population, say political analysts.

In 2013, while the Congress gave tickets to five Muslims, the BJP fielded only Arif Beg, who lost to the Congress’ Aqueel.

Madhya Pradesh will vote in a single phase and counting of votes will take place on December 11.

The central Indian state has been ruled by the BJP for the last 15 years and the main opposition party Congress has left no stone unturned to regain power at Vallabh Bhawan in Bhopal (state secretariat) where it has held the power seat for the maximum time since Independence.

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