Triangular contest in Okhla and Mustafabad: The battle with Asaduddin Owaisi’s campaign in the Delhi Assembly elections has become interesting. His party All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has turned the battle of Okhla and Mustafabad into a triangular contest. The party has fielded Shifa ur Rahman from Okhla and Tahir Hussain from Mustafabad. Both the candidates are lodged in jail and are contesting from jail on charges of involvement in the Delhi riots.
Pervez Hashmi had won the Okhla seat in 1993 on the Janata Dal and on the Congress ticket in the 1998, 2003 and 2008 elections. In the 2013 elections, Congress’ Asif Mohammad Khan had won. AAP’s Amanatullah had won the 2015 and 2020 elections. In 2015, BJP candidate Brahm Singh came second with 23.84 per cent votes and Congress candidate Asif Mohammad Khan came third with 12.08 per cent votes. In 2020, BJP candidate Brahm Singh came second with 29.65 per cent votes and Congress candidate Pervez Hashmi came third with 2.59 per cent votes.
BJP has fielded Manish Chaudhary, BSP has fielded Satish Kumar, Congress has fielded Ariba Khan, AAP has fielded Amanatullah Khan, AIMIM has fielded Shifa ur Rahman, Chandrashekhar Azad Samaj Party (ASP) has fielded Sher Khan, CPI has fielded inzamamul Hasan. Except for BSP and BJP candidates, other parties have fielded Muslim candidates. Return to Congress when you are trying to get a hat-trick. By fielding a Muslim candidate from AIMIM, the BJP candidate may benefit from splitting the votes between the AAP and the Congress.
Congress is third, BJP and you are second.
The Mustafabad seat was created in 2008 after delimitation. In 2008, 2013, Hasan Ahmed of the Congress won. Jagdish Pradhan won in 2015 and AAP’s Haji Yunus won in 2020. In the 2015 election, Congress candidate Hassan Ahmed came second with 31.68 percent of the vote and AAP’s Haji Yunus came third with 30.13 percent of the vote. In the 2020 elections, BJP’s Jagdish Pradhan stood second with 42.06 per cent votes and Congress’s Ali Mehndi stood third with 2.98 per cent votes.
Being a Muslim candidate, AAMIM’s fight was interesting
This time, AAP has fielded Adil Ahmed Khan, BJP has fielded Mohan Singh Bisht, Congress has fielded Ali Mehndi, AIMIM has fielded Mohammad Tahir Hussain, BSP has fielded Ashok Kumar, Rashtriya Republican Party has fielded Nassaruddin Gauri, Rashtriya Jan Morcha has fielded Mohammad Usman Baksh. Apart from BJP and BSP, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and Aam Aadmi Party have fielded Muslim candidates. With the AAMIM as a Muslim candidate, the battle for this seat has become interesting. Here too, by fielding a Muslim candidate, the BJP candidate can benefit from vote sharing between the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress.