New Delhi: Two assembly seats in Maharashtra, where the Mahayuti fielded Muslim candidates despite apprehensions from the BJP, witnessed fierce battles Saturday. While NCP leader Nawab Malik took a savage drubbing, ending up in fourth place in the Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar seat, Abdul Sattar, the Shiv Sena candidate from Sillod in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, emerged victorious but by a fairly slim margin.
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) fielded Ateeque Ahmad Khan in Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar, where Samajwadi Party (SP) state chief Abu Azmi won by a margin of 12,753 votes. In second and third place were Khan and the Shiv Sena’s Suresh Patil, respectively.
Meanwhile, in Sillod, a see-saw battle ended in Sattar winning by 2,420 votes, while Suresh Bankar of the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction of Sena, or the Shiv Sena (UBT), came in second.
Bankar is considered a close aide of senior BJP leader Raosaheb Danve, and the BJP local unit had informed the state leadership that it would not campaign for Sattar. In Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar too, the battle took an interesting shape as the BJP, which had earlier announced it would not support Malik, backed Patil. Both the Eknath Shinde-led Sena and the NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar are part of the Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra.
Azmi has represented the Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar since 2009, defeating the then undivided Shiv Sena’s Vithal Lokare in 2019 by over 25,000 votes.
Nawab Malik had started his political career with the Samajwadi Party and under the leadership of Abu Azmi in 1996, he contested and won the election from Nehru Nagar. Though, this seat no longer exists.
In 2001, Malik was suspended from the SP and joined the then undivided NCP. In the elections of 2009 and 2019, Malik became MLA by winning from Anushakti Nagar.
The constituency, which used to be a Congress stronghold from 1980 to 2009, became one of the focal points of discussions in elections. Later on Samajwadi the Party snatched this seat and for the past 15 years, Azmi has been elected as the MLA from here.
Sillod & resentment of BJP cadre
Sattar had won the Sillod assembly seat in 2009 and 2014 when he had contested the elections on a Congress ticket. However, he later joined the then undivided Shiv Sena and contested the election on a Sena ticket and emerged victorious.
Post the party split, he joined the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and became a cabinet minister in the Mahayuti government, which also includes the BJP and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar’s NCP.
A number of local leaders and cadres were upset with Sattar, who held the minorities development portfolio and had talked about “finishing” the BJP in Sillod while allegedly threatening its workers.
Sattar was pitted against Suresh Bankar of Uddhav Thackeray’s party Shiv Sena faction in Sillod. The assembly constituency is part of the Jalna Lok Sabha constituency.
This is an updated version of the report.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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