Hit by Hindu terror,Malegaon picks BJP over Cong lip service

While the Congress celebrates its victory in the Lok Sabha elections and cries itself hoarse about its secular credentials....

While the Congress celebrates its victory in the Lok Sabha elections and cries itself hoarse about its secular credentials,in the Muslim-dominated city of Malegaon part of Dhule Lok Sabha constituency,formerly a Congress bastion its the BJP that has emerged the winner. With Assembly elections due in four months,the ruling party in the state has reason to be worried.

Malegaon has a history of communal clashes and was rocked by riots in 2001,a series of blasts in 2006 and another bomb blast in 2008. Most recently,it made the headlines when members of an extremist Hindu group including Sadhvi Pragya Singh,retired Army officer Ramesh Upadhyay and Lt Col P S Purohit were chargesheeted by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad for the September 29,2008,blast in Malegaon.

After the 2001 riots that killed 13 persons,the Congress-led state Government had promised to set up a 200-bed hospital. The promise was reiterated after the 2006 blasts that killed 37 persons. The last blast killed four in 2008,but the hospital is still awaiting inauguration. In fact,the hospital has become a metaphor for the inefficiency with which the Congress tackles the woes of minorities. Their dissatisfaction with the party was exacerbated due to the poor compensation paid to the victims of the blasts and the lack of headway made in the 2006 blasts.

While BJPs Pratap Sonawane trounced Congressman Amarishbhai Patel by a margin of 19,419 votes,the partys loss is also due to the JD(S)s Nihal Ahmed Molvi,who secured 72,738 votes from Malegaon,gaining from anti-Congress sentiments. Nihal Ahmed has been the Malegaon MLA for seven terms until 1999,when he was defeated by Congressman Shaikh Rashid,now serving his second term.

The results have come as a boost to Ahmed,who may contest the forthcoming Assembly elections from Malegaon to defeat his bete noire Shaikh Rashid. It is true that anti-Congress sentiments helped me get votes in Malegaon, Nihal Ahmed said. But my party will decide whether I should contest the Assembly polls. His lieutenants,however,pointed out that he has already started consolidating his position by reaching out to people and organising small meetings.

The newly elected MP,Pratap Sonawane,also says he owes his victory to Malegaon. Malegaon has been the most specific deciding factor in my victory. People have realised that the Congress only pays lip service to their problems and uses them as vote-banks. I am planning to work for improving the basic infrastructure,attract industries to generate employment and attend to water and irrigation problems.

The most worrying factor for the Congress,however,is that Ahmed,who may stage a comeback in Malegaon by winning the Assembly seat,is an old friend of Sharad Pawar. In 1978,when Pawar staged a coup against Vasantdada

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Patil and formed the Progressive Democratic Front government in the state,Ahmed was made a minister. The votes garnered by Nihal Ahmed in the Lok Sabha polls,therefore,have made the Congress nervous.

We know the issues in Malegaon and are planning to inaugurate the new hospital in June. We want to invite Soniaji to inaugurate it and have asked her for an appointment, a local Congress leader said. We are also going to attend to the other problems.

Political observers in Malegaon,however,feel that the Assembly election would not be a cakewalk for Ahmed as Mufti Mohammed Ismail (who floated the third front for the local civic polls) and Ejaz Baig Aziz Baig (a Congress corporator,who may seek ticket from the Samajwadi Party) would also be in the fray.

Malegaon resident Shafiq Ahmed Mohammed Salim,who is a chemist and lost his son,Sajid (18) and nephew Shahbaz (17) in the 2006 blasts,said,The votes polled by Nihal Ahmed indicate that the people of Malegaon are not happy with the Congress. There are so many problems that need to be addressed,but there is no political will… the ruling politicians only deliver speeches and give lower compensation to Muslim victims and more to those from other communities. He,like many others,is also disenchanted with the Congress over the hospital matter. Though Hindus are a minority in Malegaon,most hospitals and dispensaries in the constituency are located in the Hindu localities situated on the right bank of the Mosam river that flows eastwards from the Sahyadri ranges. Muslims are required to cross the river for medical help,which becomes risky in hostile situations.