Last month, as he led the Eid prayers at the Jama Masjid in Malegaon, Imam Mufti Mohammed Ismail Khalique was a bit preoccupied. It was four days before the last date for filing nominations for the Maharashtra Assembly elections, and the cleric had decided to throw his hat into the ring.

It proved to be the right decision, as the Imam emerged as the surprise winner yesterday, trouncing his nearest rival, incumbent MLA Shaikh Rashid of the Congress, by a convincing margin of 17,919 votes.

“I wanted to do something more than just my duty as the Imam and teaching at the madrasa. But I had no network of workers, no team of experts to help me, no money or muscle power,” says Mufti Ismail, a day after his victory from the Muslim-majority textile town, about 300 kilometres northeast of Mumbai.

So he “decided to appeal to the conscience of the people for support”. For two weeks after Eid, he went from door-to-door, asking people if they wanted change and whether they were willing to help him. “The response was overwhelming. People started giving money. Even the poor people gave at least one rupee, a family of five would give Rs 5 — one rupee per vote. I had no funds for contesting the polls, but this way I collected about Rs 80,000, and with the grace of Allah, got elected,” he says.

The Imam contested as a candidate of local outfit Jan Surajya Shakti (JSS). In the past, the constituency has voted for the Congress or the Janata Dal.

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