Voting figures of Maharashtra elections believe 'vote jihad' claim: SP MLA
Thane (PTI): Samajwadi Party legislator Rais Shaikh on Wednesday said the results of assembly constituencies in Maharashtra with a sizable Muslim presence disprove the claim that the minority community votes en mass against the BJP.
The MLA from Bhiwandi (East) cited voting figures to claim that the BJP-led Mahayuti coalition won 21 out of 38 seats in the November 20 elections where the Muslim population ranges from 20 percent to 52 percent.
Most of the winning candidates were Hindus, Shaikh said in a statement here.
"If 'vote Jihad' existed, this would not have been the case. Some Mahayuti candidates won by a margin of as little as 1,500 votes. But the claim of 'vote Jihad' has been used to malign the Muslim community," he alleged.
He himself won in a Muslim-majority constituency by a margin of 52,000 votes, including 18,000 votes from Hindus, the SP MLA said, adding that the BJP's "divisive slogans" such as `Batnege to Katnege' and `Ek Hai Toh Safe Hai" did not have any impact on voters.
On the other hand, Muslim candidates Hasan Mushrif and Abdul Sattar were elected from Hindu-majority Kagal and Sillod seats, respectively, he pointed out.
Shaikh also said that while Muslims are 11.56 percent of Maharashtra's population, their representation in the new assembly is only 3.47 percent.
During the election campaign, BJP leader and then deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had accused the Opposition of trying to polarize voters and said if there was `vote Jihad', it would have to be countered by `dharma yudh' of votes.
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West Bengal board declares class 10 exam results, 86.83 pc students pass
Kolkata (PTI): The West Bengal board's class 10 results were declared on Friday, with 86.83 per cent of the total 9.71 lakh candidates passing the examination, an official said.
In last year's Madhyamik Pariksha, 86.56 per cent of the 9.84 lakh students were declared successful, West Bengal Board of Secondary Education president Ramanuj Ganguly said.
This year's examination was held from February 2 to February 12 at over 2,600 centres across the state, he said.
Abhirup Bhadra of Sarada Vidyamandir in Uttar Dinajpur district bagged the first rank, securing 698 of 700 marks. Priyotosh Mukhopadhyay of Sarojinidevi Saraswati Sishu Mandir in Birbhum was declared second with 696 marks. The third rank was shared by three students.
A total of 131 students secured the top 10 ranks, of whom 28 were girls.
Kalimpong recorded the highest percentage at 95.01, followed by Purba Medinipur at 94.02 and Kolkata at 92.31.
