In the recently concluded assembly elections, only 10 Muslim candidates managed to secure victories in the 288-seat Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha, marking a huge representation gap for the state’s 11.56 % Muslim population. The last assembly too had the same number of Muslim MLAs (around 3.5%). A total of 420 Muslim candidates contested the elections, with 218 running independently and 150 fielded by smaller parties. However, major political outfits largely overlooked Muslim representation, fielding limited candidates.
The Mahayuti (BJP+NCP+Shiv Sena) alliance, which swept the elections with a clear majority, included three Muslim winners: Shiv Sena’s Abdul Sattar and NCP (Ajit) candidates Sana Malik and Hasan Mushrif. The Samajwadi Party’s Rais Shaikh secured the largest victory margin, winning the Bhiwandi seat by 52,015 votes, while Congress’s Amin Patel followed with a 34,844-vote margin in Mumbadevi.
AIMIM’s Mufti Abdul Khalique narrowly won the Malegaon Central seat by just 75 votes, highlighting the intense competition in certain constituencies. SP’s Abu Asim Azmi secured the Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar seat with a margin of 12,753 votes, while Congress’s Sajid Khan Pathan won Akola West by a mere 1,283 votes. Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Haroon Khan claimed the Versova seat with a margin of 1,600 votes.
Congress faced criticism for fielding only nine Muslim candidates despite earlier promises of 18, leading to a potential vote split. AIMIM fielded 12 candidates, the highest among all parties. The BJP-led Mahayuti benefited from schemes like the Ladki Bahin Yojana, which reportedly swayed Muslim women voters. Observers also noted Ajit Pawar’s influence in consolidating minority support for the alliance. Results showed slim margins in several constituencies, raising questions about vote division and electoral strategies. The data underscores the challenge of translating numerical presence into political influence for Maharashtra’s Muslim community.
source: http://www.radiancenews.com / Radiance News / Home> Latest News> Report / by Radiance News Bureau / November 24th, 2024
In a proud moment for the Muslim community of Maharashtra, Dr. Sara Shaikh secured the top position in Masters in Obstetrics and Gynecology in all the Medical Colleges of Maharashtra.
This remarkable feat was recognized with the prestigious Gold Medal during the convocation ceremony of Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) held in Nashik. The convocation ceremony was graced by distinguished guests, including Vice Chancellor retired Lt Gen Madhuri Kanitikar and State Cabinet Minister for Medical Education Hasan Mushrif. State Governor Ramesh Bais addressed the event online.
Dr. Sara Shaikh, a beacon of excellence and perseverance, hails from a family deeply rooted in the medical profession. Graduating from MIMER Medical College, Pune, she embarked on a journey marked by determination and dedication. Her pursuit of knowledge led her to excel in All India Quota of NEET PG examination, through which she chose to specialize in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the esteemed Grant Government Medical College and Sir JJ Group of Hospitals, Mumbai.
Throughout her academic journey, Dr. Sara’s brilliance shone brightly, earning her accolades for presentations and even international publications. Notably, she obtained qualifications in DNB, Obstetrics, and Gynecology, further solidifying her expertise. Last year, she achieved another milestone by passing MRCOG Part 1 from the Royal College of England.
Dr Sara Shaikh with her parents
In an exclusive conversation with Radiance News, Dr. Sara Shaikh attributed her success to her unwavering determination and the solid support of her family. She expressed gratitude to her mother, Dr. Nasreen Shaikh, father, Dr. Gayasuddin Shaikh, and husband, Dr. Muhammad Kashif Ali, for their steadfast encouragement throughout her educational journey.
Addressing the significance of her choice to wear hijab, Dr. Sara emphasized that it never hindered her path to success. Firmly committed to her principles, she remarked that adhering to the conditions of Purdah had never been a barrier in her academic or practical life.
Dr. Sara Shaikh urged Muslim students to forge ahead with diligence and determination, assuring them that success awaits those who persevere. She emphasized the importance of overcoming adversity and the pride that comes with accomplishing one’s goals. Dr. Sara’s journey serves as an inspiration to aspiring medical professionals, transcending boundaries and proving that dedication and perseverance can lead to remarkable achievements, regardless of challenges faced along the way.
She stands as a torchbearer for others, igniting hope and determination in the hearts of countless students aspiring to follow in her footsteps.
source: http://www.radiancenews.com / Radiance News / Home> Latest News / Markers of Excellence / by Radiance News Bureau / March 14th, 2024
After the induction of 36 ministers on Monday, the 43-member council of minsters (CoM), led by chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray, has seen the Maratha community dominate the Cabinet, followed by legislators from the Other Backward Classes (OBC). Significantly, the Muslim community, represented by four ministers, has also got one of the highest representations in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) Cabinet.
In terms of regions, most of the ministers are from western Maharashtra and Vidarbha.
In Thackeray’s 43-member Cabinet, there are 19 ministers from the Maratha community, with deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, senior Congress ministers Ashok Chavan and Balasaheb Thorat, senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) ministers Jayant Patil, Dilip Walse-Patil and Anil Deshmukh and Shiv Sena ministers Eknath Shinde and Gulabrao Patil, being the prominent faces.
OBC community is represented by former deputy CM Chhagan Bhujbal, Dhananjay Munde, Jitendra Awhad, Vijay Wadettiwar and Sanjay Rathod.
From the Muslim community, Thackeray has inducted party legislator Abdul Sattar, as well as Hasan Mushrif and Nawab Malik from NCP, and Aslam Shaikh from the Congress.
The other caste-based representations include Nitin Raut, Varsha Gaikwad and Sanjay Bansode, who are from the Scheduled Caste (SC) community, while seven-time legislator KC Padvi is the lone tribal representative in the Cabinet.
The region-wise distribution of the ministerial berths is dictated by the number of seats each of the three parties has won in a particular region, as well as how a party has countered the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Assembly polls.
Thirteen ministers were chosen from western Maharashtra, as the Congress and NCP gained the maximum support in the region. It was followed by Vidarbha (8), Marathwada (7), north Maharashtra (4) and Konkan (2). From the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, four ministers, including Aaditya Thackeray, are from Mumbai and two are from Thane.
“Sangli and Kolhapur have received the maximum representation from the Congress and NCP, with ministers such as Jayant Patil, Hasan Mushrif, Satej Patil, Vishwajeet Kadam along with first-time minister Rajendra Patil Yadravkar, making it to the cabinet. Satara also has been given fair representation with the induction of Balasaheb Patil. These districts had given the two parties the most number of MLAs by defeating the BJP candidates,” said a Congress leader, who did not wish to be named.
The three ruling parties have inducted Balasaheb Thorat, Prasad Tanpure and Shantaram Gadakh from Ahmednagar to limit Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and Madhukar Pichad’s influence in the region at check. The duo had deserted the Congress and NCP to join BJP.
Congress has picked the maximum number of ministers from Vidarbha, where it had gained majorly in the Assembly polls. Congress’s Nitin Raut, Vijay Wadettiwar, Yashomati Thakur and Sunil Kedar got the Cabinet berths, while Nana Patole was elected as the speaker of the lower house after the new government came to power. From the region, NCP chose Anil Deshmukh and Rajendra Shingane, while Sena has inducted Sanjay Rathod and Bachchu Kadu. However, most of the MLA’s who won in Vidarbha are from BJP.
An NCP leader said that though the three ruling parties had decided to have better coordination in terms of representation to the region, it could not do so while finalising the names for the ministerial berths.
“For instance, Eknath Shinde (Sena) and Jitendra Awhad (NCP) both belong to Thane district, while in Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri, Sena and NCP could give only one berth despite their dominance there,” he said.
Prakash Pawar, political analyst from Kolhapur, believes that the three parties did not choose ministers on the basis of caste and region alone. “I don’t think the induction of the ministers was on the basis of caste or region. The ruling parties have tried to keep BJP, the single largest party in the Assembly, in check owing to the uncertainty over the alliance lasting for five years. This is not a natural alliance and thus it will always be under threat from BJP. By giving a fair representation to OBCs, the ruling parties have also tried to attract BJP’s traditional vote-bank of OBCs,” Pawar said.
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Mumbai News / by Surendra P Gangan / December 31st, 2019
Hasan Mushrif and Abdus Sattar, both ministers in the last Cong-NCP alliance government, have won the assembly elections from their respective constituencies, officials announced Sunday after counting of the votes.
Hasan Mushrif, a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate, has won the election from Kagal assembly seat.
While Hasan Mushrif, a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate, has won the election from Kagal assembly seat, Abdus Sattar of the Congress Party has won from Sillod.
Both the Muslim leaders have won from these seats second time in a row.
Elsewhere in Maharashtra, Abu Asim Azmi defeated his nearest rival of BJP by over 10,000 votes. This is the second time Azmi has won this seat. In the 2009 state elections Azmi had won from two seats – Mankhurd and the other Bhiwandi.
His son Farhan Azmi who contested the elction from Bhiwandi lost the seat to Shiv Sena’s Rupesh Matre.
Farhan Azmi had contested this seat in the 2010 by-election ater his father Abu Asim Azmi resigned from this seat. He had however lost the election then also.
Arif Naseem Khan, former Minister of Minority Development Department, Awkaf and Textiles, won the Chandiwali assembly seat for the fourth time in a row.
Amin Patel, Chairman of Maulana Azad Corporation, won from Mumbadevi assembly seat for second time in a row.
The Mumbadevi assembly constituency saw a swing of Muslim votes in favour of the MIM, and it was feared that Amin Patel would lose the election becuase of the division of secualr votes. However, a sensible voting by the Muslim community helped him to win the election.
Imtiyaz Jaleel and Dr Gaffar Qadri of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) who contested the 2014 Maharashtra elections from Aurangabad (Central) and Aurangabad (East) assembly seats respectively have won the elections, it is officially announced here after the vote count.
In Aurangabad (Central) AMIM’s Imtiyaz Jaleel, a NDTV reporter, has won the election by over 18,000 votes whereas in Aurangabad (East) constituency Dr Gaffar Qadri won by a huge margin.
It is a historic win for the Hyderabad based party which had fielded a total of 24 candidates in this elections.
Waris Pathan has defetaed his nearest rival Madhu Chavan of BJP by over 1,200 votes. Congress candidate Madhu Chavan came a distant third.
Byculla and Madanpura aeas in this constituency had earleir seen a mssive swing of Muslim votes in favour of the AIMIM.
Maharashtra president Syed Moeen is leading by a comfortable margin, officials announced after 11 rounds of voting in this important city in the Marathwada region.
Syed Moeen had led the AIMIM to victory in 2013 when the Hyderabad party won 13 seats in the civic elections.
In Malegaon (Central) assembly seat where 11 rounds of counting have been completed, MIM’s Abdul Malik has secured 11,965 votes. Asif Shaikh of Congress is leading here with 56,868 votes. Sitting MLA Mufti Ismael of NCP is trailing on the second position with 40,839 votes.
Sabir Seth of the Congress party is trailing in Dhule (Central) assembly seat. He is on the fourth position in the seat where the BJP candidate is leading. Raju Kadam Bande of the NCP is trailing on the second position.
In Dhule (Outer) assembly seat, Anil Gote of the BJP is leading by over 10,000 votes.
Rasheed Tahir Momin of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Farhan Azmi of the Samajwadi Party (SP) are trailing behind their rivals in their respective constituencies in Bhiwandi.
While Rashid Tahir Momin is trailing behind the BJP candidate by about 07,000 votes, Farhan Azmi, son of SP Chief Abu Asim Azmi is trailing behind the Shiv Sena candidate by about 04,500 votes.
Asif Shaikh Rasheed, President of Malegaon Congress party, is leading in Malegaon – Central assembly seat.
After the fourth round of vote count, Asif has bagged 25,783 votes whereas his nearest rival and sitting MLA Mufti Ismael of NCP could get just 10,123 votes.
The MIM and Janata Dal candidates were on the third and fourth position with 3,744 and 1,468 votes respectively.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and former Home Minister RR Patil are trailing in their respective constituencies, trends available at 09:00 a.m. in the orning showed.
As the vote count begins in Maharashtra today morning, the leads show that the BJP is set to emrge as the single largest party whereas the Congress is set to face its worst defeat in Maharashtra.
Chavan contested from Karad in Western Maharashtra – a seat held by him and his father in the past.
The general body of the Kolhapur Municipal Corporation (KMC) on Thursday elected Nationalist Congress Party’s Hasina Faras as the next mayor and Congress nominee Arjun Mane as the deputy mayor.
Kunal Khemnar, the chief executive officer of the zilla parishad, presided over the meet to elect mayor and deputy mayor.
The posts were vacant for the past few weeks after mayor Ashwini Ramane and deputy mayor Shama Mulla resigned.
Faras and Mane defeated Bharatiya Janata Party-Tararani Aghadi alliance candidates Smita Mane and Vijay Khade. Despite having less numbers in the house, the opposition alliance had decided to contest the election. Four Shiv Sena corporators abstained from voting, giving as easy win to the ruling alliance.
In the 81-member house, Faras and Mane secured 44 votes each, while the opposition candidates got 33. The opposition was banking on the support of four Sena corporators and was also aiming to get a few more corporators from either Congress or NCP. However, the ruling alliance had issued a whip to their members to vote for the official nominees. To avoid any unfavourable results, all 44 corporators of the ruling alliance were taken to an undisclosed location for two days and were brought directly to the meeting. The voting by raising hands made it easy for the floor leaders to keep a watch on the corporators and to avoid any defection.
Faras is wife of former mayor Babu Faras and mother of former standing committee chairman Adil Faras. She is the first Muslim woman to hold the mayor’s post in the KMC. Faras is close to NCP leader Hasan Mushrif but she may get just a six-month term before stepping down to pave way for other corporators from NCP to become mayor.
Faras said, “I will push the Mahalakshmi temple development plan and also ensure that the Wi-Fi project for the city is initiated. The second phase work of renovation of Keshavrao Bhosale Natyagruha is pending; I will try to get funds from the state government for it.”
The project of Wi-Fi hot spots at various places in the city was proposed by her son Adil when he was chairman of the standing committee. After the new body came into place last year, the project has been on the back burner.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Kolhapur News / TNN / December 09th, 2016
