In AAP’s MCD Win, A Key Takeaway: 'Disillusioned' Muslim Voters

Contrary to what can be seen in the 2022 MCD election results, Okhla, Mustafabad, and Seelampur voted heavily in favour of the AAP in the 2020 assembly elections.

File photo of people waiting to cast their votes in the MCD elections at a polling booth in Okhla on Dec 4, 2022. ( Image Source :PTI )

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is patting its back as it has been able to penetrate the fort of the BJP that had been ruling the Delhi civic bodies for 15 years. Though the Congress remained in power at the Centre and in the national capital for a long time, the Sheila Dikshit-led side had not been able to defeat the BJP in Delhi municipal elections. 

After an all-out high-voltage campaign showdown between the BJP and the AAP, voters finally showed faith in the party in power in Delhi to rule the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) too. In the 2022 MCD election results, the AAP won 134 wards, the BJP finished second by securing 104 wards, and Congress got only 9 wards. 

However, even though the AAP has been able to achieve a major feat by unseating the BJP, the MCD 2022 results reflect a couple of important things. First, the wards in assembly constituencies represented by MLAs who face criminal cases have not given a good response to AAP. And second, Muslim voters have tried to show they no longer find AAP as the right option.

Muslim areas, which held anti-CAA protests in 2019-20 and those impacted during the 2020 Delhi riots, seem to have rejected the AAP. 

Out of the total nine wards Congress won, seven are in the Muslim-majority areas, and all of them witnessed anti-CAA protests. 

AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan’s Okhla assembly constituency has five wards, of which AAP lost 4 — two went to the BJP and two were bagged by the Congress. The Muslim majority wards in Okhla constituency — Abul Fazal Enclave, which includes Shaheen Bagh, the epicentre of anti-CAA-NRC protests, and Zakir Nagar — elected Congress leaders as their municipal corporators. 

In Seelampur, another assembly constituency where violent clashes were reported during the anti-CAA protests, the AAP lost all four wards. The Seelampur ward, under the Seelampur assembly constituency, has gone to an independent candidate who defeated the BJP. Out of the remaining three wards of the assembly constituency, two have been won by the BJP and one by the Congress.

Wards under Mustafabad and Karawal Nagar Assembly constituencies, areas badly affected during the Delhi riots, have mostly gone in BJP’s favour. In these two assemblies, out of thE 10 wards, the BJP was able to win seven while Congress got two and one went in AAP’s favour.  

Why Was AAP Rejected This Time In Muslim-Majority Areas?

Contrary to what can be seen in the 2022 MCD election results, Okhla, Mustafabad, and Seelampur had voted heavily in favour of the AAP in the 2020 assembly elections. So, why did Muslim voters reject the party this time? Local residents have these reasons to blame:  

No Show Of Support: Anti-CAA-NRC protests started mainly after the BJP government’s 2019 move at the Centre enacting the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) to allow citizenship to illegal migrants who are Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist, and Christian from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, besides those who entered India before 2014, as a fallout of religious persecutions. The proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), meanwhile, is supposed to be an official record of all legal citizens of India, with individuals required to provide a prescribed set of documents before a specified cutoff date to be included in it.

Together with the NRC, the CAA was seen by Muslims as a move designed to alienate them since the CAA aimed to provide citizenship only to non-Muslim illegal immigrants, and that would leave out only Muslim immigrants when the NRC is implemented.

Protests broke out across the country against the move but the Muslim-dominated areas of Delhi saw the most intense ones with Shaheen Bagh becoming the epicentre. This happened around the time the Delhi assembly elections were due and the AAP was looking for another win. As the protests grew bigger and reported some violent incidents, the AAP steered clear of the overall issue.

The Congress came out in Muslim areas where the anti-CAA-NRC protests were being held and showed open support. Despite the effort, however, Muslim voters saw AAP as a better option in the Delhi assembly to defeat the BJP.

"The silence of Arvind Kejriwal on anti-CAA-NRC protests was understood as at that time it could have polarised Hindu voters from other areas. But even after AAP returned to power, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal remained silent on the issue and never showed any open support to Muslims," said Faisal, a tailor who has a shop in the heart of Seelampur market.

"He (Kejriwal) has not spoken on any single Muslim issue since then (Delhi assembly election 2020) or said anything even on the Bilkis Bano rape accused being released," he added.   

Delhi Riots: Right after the 2020 Delhi assembly elections, communal riots erupted in parts of North East Delhi from February 23 to 29. While both Hindus and Muslims were among the victims, the riots impacted predominantly Muslim areas. The elongated period of riots created a sense of insecurity among Muslims, and they felt the Delhi government did nothing to control the situation. 

"Kejriwal is known for his blunt attitude and for protests. But where was he when our areas were burning?" Faisal asked.

"Dilli police aapke control me nahi hai, but aap aatey toh front pe. Chief minister hain aap, samney aney se kaise nahi thamte dangay (Delhi Police is not under the Delhi government's control but Arvind Kejriwal should have come out on the streets to control the situation. Had he visited areas where riots were taking place, the violence could have been controlled," he added. 

Soft ‘Hindutva’: Ahead of the MCD elections 2022, Kejriwal demanded that the Centre print photos of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesha on one side and Mahatma Gandhi on the other on currency notes. Such moves evidently do not go down well with Muslim voters who looked at these as soft ‘Hindutva’ — a term often equated with BJP’s ideology.

"Arvind Kejriwal or AAP was re-elected in Delhi on the basis of development work. Votes went for schools and other improved visible changes the AAP brought. But all of a sudden, right after winning, from development, he started talking about Hanuman Jayanti. It showed his idea of politics," said Faraz Ali Khan, a voter in Abul Fazal Enclave.

"Congress has also tried to play soft Hindutva card at times but they at least raise their voice on Muslim-related issues. AAP has changed its politics from development to Goddess Lakshmi on notes. It is clearly visible what he is trying to do, and then the deafening silence on Muslim issues," said Faraz, who runs a startup.   

Key Takeaway

Be it West Bengal, Bihar, Telangana or Kerala, the Muslim vote bank plays a role or rather is looked at as a means to defeat parties aligned more right from the centre. Most of the time, Muslim voters may get divided when more than one such party are in the fray.

In the Delhi MCD elections, Muslims appear to have tried to send the AAP a message regarding their resentment. They may have looked at AAP as an option in the past to counter the BJP in Delhi, but stand "disillusioned" now, claimed a voter in Shaheen Bagh, who did not wish to be named. "This is a clear message...that AAP cannot be playing the dual role. You have to be clear about your stance in order to get votes from these areas," he said.