24 Muslim candidates win LS seats this time, two less than 2019 polls
New Delhi, Jun 5: As many as 24 Muslim candidates across the country have won the Lok Sabha elections and they include former cricketer Yusuf Pathan of the Trinamool Congress from Bahrampur in West Bengal and Congress' Rakibul Hussain from Dhubri in Assam.
However, the community's presence in the 18th Lok Sabha has reduced marginally from 26 last time but is higher than the 2014 tally when 23 Muslim candidates were elected to the lower house of Parliament.
As many as 78 Muslims were in the fray in the Lok Sabha elections this year, a significant drop from the last polls when 115 Muslim candidates were fielded by various parties.
Among the Muslim candidates who won this time, Rakibul Hussain's victory in Dhubri was significant in terms of the winning margin. The Congress candidate secured 14.71 lakh votes and defeated his nearest rival Mohammad Badruddin Ajmal by one of the highest margins of about 10 lakh votes.
On the other hand, first-time contender Yusuf Pathan beat Congress leader in the Lok Sabha and six-time MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury by 85,022 votes in his Baharampur bastion in West Bengal.
Congress candidate from Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur, Imran Masood, won by a margin of 64,542 votes while Iqra Choudhary, a 29-year-old Samajwadi Party candidate from Kairana, secured victory over BJP's Pradeep Kumar by 69,116 votes.
Afzal Ansari, the incumbent MP from Ghazipur and the younger brother of gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari, retained the seat by bagging 5.3 lakh votes while 28-year-old Iqra Choudhary won the Kairana seat by a margin of over 69,000 votes.
Samajwadi Party's Mohibbullah won the Rampur seat by securing 4,81,503 votes, while Zia Ur Rehman won in Sambhal by a margin of 1.2 lakh votes.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi retained his Hyderabad seat by a margin of 3,38,087 votes over his nearest rival BJP's Madhavi Latha Kompella.
In Jammu and Kashmir, National Conference's Srinagar candidate Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, a prominent Shia leader, secured 3,56,866 votes and won by a margin of 1.88 lakh votes against his nearest rival PDP's Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra.
Mian Altaf Ahmad of the National Conference won in Anantnag-Rajouri by 2,81,794 votes against former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti.
In Ladakh, Independent candidate Mohammad Haneefa secured a victory by a margin of 27,862 votes while another Independent candidate Abdul Rashid Sheikh won Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla seat by bagging 4.7 lakh votes.
In Bihar, Congress' Tariq Anwar won the Katihar seat after a close contest with JD(U) candidate Dulal Chandra Goswami. Anwar won by a margin of 49,863 votes.
Congress now has the highest number of seven Muslim MPs, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has five, and the SP has four. The Indian Union Muslim League has three MPs -- T Mohammad Bashir from Malappuram, M P Abdurasmad Samdani from Ponnani, Kerala and K Navaskani from Tamil Nadu's Ramanathapuram.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Allen, Raghuvanshi, Green power KKR to 29-run win over GT
Kolkata (PTI): Finn Allen blasted a 35-ball 93, while Angkrish Raghuvanshi hit an unbeaten 44-ball 82 as Kolkata Knight Riders kept their playoff hopes alive with a 29-run win over Gujarat Titans in the IPL match here on Saturday.
Sent in to bat, Allen went on a six-hitting spree, smashing 10 maximums and four boundaries to add 95 off 41 balls with Raghuvanshi (82).
Raghuvanshi then shared another 108 off 53 balls with Cameron Green (52 not out) to power KKR to a challenging 247 for 2.
In reply, GT could manage 218-4, riding on skipper Shubman Gill's 49-ball 85 and a 35-ball 57 from Jos Buttler. Opener Sai Sudarsan was retired hurt but returned to make a 28-ball 53 not out.
Sunil Narine (2/29) claimed two wickets and Saurabh Dubey snapped one for KKR.
For GT, Mohammed Siraj (1/50), Sai Kishore (1/38) were the wicket-takers.
Brief Score:
KKR: 247 for 2 in 20 overs (Finn Allen 93, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 82 not out, Camero Green 52 not out; Mohammed Siraj 1/50).
GT: 218 for 4 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 85, Sunil Narine 2/29).
