34 Muslim candidates win UP Assembly polls, 10 more than last time
Lucknow, Mar 11: Thirty-four Muslim candidates won in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, 10 more than the last state elections.
They were fielded by the Samajwadi Party (SP) and its alliance partners.
The BSP, Congress and the All-India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) had fielded a number of Muslim candidates but they could not win.
The Apna Dal (Sonelal), an ally of the BJP, had fielded Haidar Ali Khan from Swar seat in Rampur but he lost to SP's Abdullah Azam by over 61,000 votes.
Political analyst Rajendra Dwivedi said Muslim candidates can't win by just banking upon their community's support. The candidates of parties having strong vote bank win the polls, he said.
"The Muslim candidate cannot win only by banking upon the support of Muslim votes. They need the support of the party's base vote bank. For example, the core vote bank of the Samajwadi Party is Yadavs," he said, adding that the Muslim-Yadav combination ensures their win.
"The Muslims felt that it is only the Samajwadi Party, which can defeat the BJP," he said.
He added that the Congress does not have its own vote bank and there were no chances of its candidate winning the elections.
When asked about the dismal performance of the AIMIM, Hisam Siddiqui of an Urdu newspaper said, "The Muslims of UP know very well that one cannot win the elections by only banking on the Muslim votes. So, they are not convinced by Asaduddin Owaisi and completely ignore the AIMIM candidates."
He said Muslims attend Owaisi's rally in large numbers but do not vote for him.
As a result, the vote share of the AIMIM in this UP elections stood at 0.49 per cent, he said.
According to the Election Commission website, the Muslim candidates who got elected to the state Assembly on the SP ticket are Mohammad Azam Khan (Rampur), Mahboob Ali (Amroha), Ataur Rehman (Baehri), Umar Ali Khan (Behat), Jahid (Bhadohi), Shahjil Islam (Bhojipura), Mohammad Faheem (Bilari), Naseer Ahmed (Chamraua), Nafees Ahmed (Gopalpur), Mohammad Tahir Khan (Issauli) and Mohammad Hasan (Kanpur Cantonment).
Kamal Akhtar (Kanth), Shahid Manzoor (Kithaur), Jia-ur-Rehman (Kundarki), Arman Khan (Lucknow West), Maria (Matera), Rafiq Ansari (Meerut), Suhaib (Mohammadbad) and Mohammad Nasir (Moradabad rural) also won on the SP ticket.
The other Muslim MLAs of the SP are Tasleem Ahmed (Najijabad), Alam Badi (Nizamabad), Nadira Sultan (Patiyali), Fareed Mahfooz Kidwai (Ramnagar), Iqbal Mehmood (Sambhal), Jiauddin Rizvi (Sikandarpur), Haji Irfan Solanki (Sisamau), Nawabjan (Thaurdwara), Syeda Khatoon (Domariyaganj) and Ashu Malik (Saharanpur).
Abbas Anasri, son of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, won from Mau on the SBSP (Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party) ticket.
Ghulam Mohammad and Ashraf Ali won on the RLD ticket from Siwalkhas and Thanabhawan, respectively.
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.
Kohli has silenced doubters with century: Gavaskar
Raipur (PTI): Batting maestro Virat Kohli proved that the "old generation is still the best" with his unbeaten century against Kolkata Knight Riders, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar said while lavishing praise on the Royal Challengers Bengaluru star for silencing doubters in the ongoing IPL.
Coming off two successive ducks, the 37-year-old Kohli smashed an unbeaten hundred to guide Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a six-wicket win over KKR and move to the top of the points table here on Wednesday.
"Virat Kohli was absolutely outstanding against KKR. He knows how to construct a chase better than most," Gavaskar said on Star Sports' 'Amul Cricket Live'.
"While everyone was talking about this being the season of 'Gen Next', Kohli showed he is still around. He silenced the doubters with a century and moved to third in the Orange Cap race. He proved that the old generation is still the best."
Gavaskar highlighted Kohli's staggering consistency in the shortest format and said his records may stand untouched for a long time.
"When it comes to T20 centuries, he is third on the list with 10, behind Chris Gayle and Babar Azam. But he is the fastest to 14,000 T20 runs and has nine IPL hundreds. Records are there to be broken, but it will take a very long time for anyone to match what Kohli keeps delivering, game after game, season after season," he said.
"This hundred from Virat Kohli was one of those special moments that remind us of his greatness."
Gavaskar also pointed to the dropped catch of Kohli by KKR as a decisive turning point in the contest.
"Before this RCB-KKR game, KKR's efficiency with catches was still the best in the IPL this season. But this one hurt badly," he said.
"Rovman Powell had the chance to dismiss Virat Kohli early. He went up high, timed his jump well, but the ball slipped out. You cannot drop Kohli early in his innings. He will make you pay every single time."
"He scored a hundred and made KKR regret that drop. That is what great players do. They don't give you a second chance."
