Hyderabad, June 8: Muslim representation has come down in Andhra Pradesh Assembly. Only three Muslims have been elected in the just concluded elections while four Muslims were elected in 2019.
All the three were elected on the tickets of Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which, along with its allies Jana Sena and BJP, has scored a landslide victory.
The TDP had fielded three Muslims and all of them have emerged winners.
YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) had fielded seven Muslim candidates, the highest ever in the state’s history and all of them were defeated.
TDP-Jana Sena-BJP alliance has won a whopping 164 seats in the 175-member Assembly. It also won 21 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats.
Senior TDP leader and former minister Nasyam Mohammed Farook was elected from Nandyal constituency. He defeated Silpa Ravi Chandra Kishore Reddy of YSRCP by a margin of 12,333.
This is the fourth time Farook has been elected as MLA. He was earlier elected in 1985, 1994 and 1999. The senior leader had served as deputy speaker of the Assembly and a minister in united Andhra Pradesh.
Mohammed Naseer Ahmed of TDP has been elected from Guntur East. He defeated Noori Fatima Shaik of YSRCP by a margin of 31,962 votes. The YSRCP had denied a ticket to sitting MLA Mohammad Mustafa and fielded Noori Fathima.
The Congress party had also fielded a Muslim candidate Shaik Mastan Vali, who was elected on Congress ticket in 2009. He, however, finished a distant third.
This constituency had been electing Muslim MLA candidates since the 1980s.
The third Muslim to be elected to the Assembly is M. Shahjahan Basha. He defeated S. Nisar Ahamad of YSRCP by 5,509 votes in Madanapalle constituency. He was earlier elected from here as Congress candidate in 2009.
The YSRCP had not fielded Mohammed Nawaz Basha, who was elected from here in 2019.
In Kadiri constituency, YSRCP’s B.S. Maqbool lost to K. Venkata Prasad of TDP by a margin of 6,265 votes.
This was the second time that YSRCP has given Kadiri ticket to a Muslim. In 2014, Attar Chand Basha was elected from here.
Deputy Chief Minister and YSRCP leader Amzath Basha Shaik Bepari suffered defeat in Kadapa. She lost to Madhavi Reddappa of TDP by 18,860 votes. The fielding of a Muslim candidate by Congress party led to Basha’s defeat. T.K. Afzal Ali Khan of Congress secured 24,500 votes, spoiling the chances of the YSRCP candidate, who was seeking re-election for a third consecutive term.
Kadapa constituency in Jagan Mohan Reddy’s home district of YSR Kadapa has been electing Muslim candidates since 1994. TDP’s S.A. Khaleel Basha was elected in 1994 and 1999 while Congress party’s Ahmadullah Mohammad was elected in 2004 and 2009.
In Kurnool, retired IAS officer MD. Imtiaz lost to TDP’s T.G. Bharath by a margin of 18,876 votes. Congress party’s Shaik Jeelani Basha finished third and secured 9,022 votes.
The YSRCP has denied renomination to sitting MLA Hafeez Khan to field Imtiaz, who took voluntary retirement to join the ruling party in February.
A state-cadre IAS officer of 2009 batch, Imtiaz hails from Kurnool, which has a sizable Muslim population. He had topped Group-I examination and opted for the commercial taxes department.
Khaleel Ahamd of YSRCP lost to TDP candidate P. Narayana in Nellore city constituency by a margin of over 72,000 votes. Khaleel was the first Muslim candidate from the constituency since its formation in 1952.
YSRCP’s Shaik Asif also suffered defeat in Vijayawada West. He lost to former union minister and BJP candidate Sujana Chowdary by a margin of 47,032 votes.
YSRCP claimed to be the only party which gave political reservation to Muslim community. While defending four per cent reservation for Muslims in jobs and education, Jagan Mohan Reddy had said that they gave four per cent of 175 Assembly seats to Muslims.
In 2019 when YSRCP stormed to power with a landslide majority, four Muslims were elected to the state Assembly on its tickets. It had fielded five Muslim candidates.
