Pragya in Bhopal, BJP faces the heat in Malegaon

NASHIK: BJP’s decision to field Pragya Singh Thakur in Bhopal has overshadowed other issues in the Muslimdominated Malegaon central assembly segment of the Dhule Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra.
Union minister of state for defence Subhash Bhamre is facing a stiff challenge from young Congress candidate Kunal Patil in Dhule, which is considered a BJP bastion.
Around 17% of voters in the constituency are Muslim. Most of them live in the Malegaon central assembly segment.
Various parties have started wooing Muslims, trying to tap the resentment in the community over the ticket to Pragya, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast that killed six people and injured a dozen others. She spent a few years in jail before being granted bail.
Asif Shaikh Rasheed, Congress MLA from the Malegaon inner assembly segment, said the ticket to Pragya has emerged as the biggest issue in Malegaon ahead of elections. “We are raising this issue and I am confident that Muslim voters will back the Congress candidate in the polls,” he said.
Malegaon resident Khalil Abbas said the trend in the assembly segment over the years has been that though a bulk of votes would go to a particular non-BJP candidate, a percentage of the votes could get split among other Muslim candidates in the fray.
“But the Pragya issue has totally brought together the Muslim community. I think they would vote en masse for only that candidate who would be able to defeat the BJP nominee. The turnout in the Malegaon central assembly segment is expected to be extremely high this time,” he said.
There are 11 Muslim candidates in the fray, including Navi Ahmed of the Vanchit Bahujban Aghadi.
Rebel BJP leader Anil Gote, who is contesting as an Independent, feels Pragya’s remarks against the late Mumbai Police ATS chief, Hemant Karkare, would have a bearing on voting. However, local BJP members played down the issue, claiming even in 2014, Bhamre got few votes in Malegaon central.
Of the six assembly segments in the constituency, Sindkheda and Dhule city are with BJP, Malegaon outer with Shiv Sena, Dhule rural and Malegaon central with Congress, and Baglan with NCP. The 43% Maratha voters in Dhule will play a key role in deciding the winner. Both Bhamre and Patil are from the Maratha community and a split in votes between the two could pose a problem for the sitting MP.
In the 2014 polls, the Marathas had mostly favoured Bhamre as the Congress candidate, Amrishbhai Patel, was not a Maharashtrian. Another problem for Bhamre this time is the differences between him and a few Sena leaders in Dhule city.