While the jury is still out on the factors leading to the landslide victory for the MahaYuti coalition in the Maharashtra assembly elections, anger among Muslims is being directed against religious leaders, especially Maulana Sajjad Naumani, a Deobandi cleric whose appeal to Muslims to vote for Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is being blamed for the counter-mobilisation of Hindu votes, precipitating BJP-led MahaYuti's record-breaking victory.
At a press conference in Mumbai on November 13, Naumani had released a list of candidates, mostly from MVA, asking Muslims to support them. He said that Muslims should vote for the candidates 'to defeat forces challenging the Constitution'. Naumani had, however, declined to answer questions from the media on whether he represented all Muslims, explaining that he had come up with the list of candidates after consulting scholars, social activists, and opinion makers. Naumani has since apologised for a statement made during the run-up to the elections where he said that Muslims who vote for MahaYuti should be socially boycotted.
After MVA's drubbing in last week's elections, Muslims are asking the question raised at the press meet. Juned Shaikh, who runs a YouTube channel called F3 News with a wide viewership, represented the view of many Muslims when he asked, "Who did maulana consult before declaring support for the candidates? There are millions of Muslims in the state; did you have a meeting with them?"
Shuiab Khateeb, trustee of Mumbai's Jama Masjid, who contested as a candidate in Mumbadevi for the Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram), said it was wrong for Naumani to endorse the entire list of MVA candidates. "On what ground did Naumani base his list of candidates? Did he consult the public?" asked Khateeb. "His statement created vote banks of Hindus and Muslims. Candidates should be endorsed on the basis of their work and potential, not because they belong to a particular political group. Naumani's statements created havoc in the minds of the voters," said Khateeb.
Naumani, who was educated at a university in Madina, is based out of Uttar Pradesh though he has an establishment in Mumbai. Naumani probably did not know the ground realities in Maharashtra and was misled by other people, said senior Urdu journalist Saeed Hameed. "We talk about transparency by politicians and the government. However, the maulana did not have transparency about the machinery that he used to come up with the list of candidates Muslims should vote for in 288 seats," said Saeed. "Surveys that cover a big state require a lot of money. I am apprehensive of his research and his parameters."
Saeed added that Naumani's endorsement of MVA candidates lent credence to accusations of 'vote jihad' hurled by BJP leaders like Kirit Somaiya. "It was a critical election; he should have been careful in choosing his words. He exceeded his limits as a maulana. He has to ultimately apologise for some of his statements. Also, a statement by a Tablighi maulana will not be accepted by Barelvis, Shias, and other sects."
A statement similar to Naumani's was made by AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi in 2014 during his first political rally in Mumbai, said Shaikh. "He said something about Muslims uniting for 15 minutes to finish off their opponents. While the statement did not unite Muslims, it did unite the majority. That was a turning point," said Shaikh.
Dr Azimuddin, president of Movement for Human Welfare, who had accompanied Naumani at the press meet, said that the cleric's remarks could have had only a marginal effect on the election results. "There were other factors that led to the huge win for MahaYuti. Questions about manipulation of voting machines remain unanswered. There were reports that money meant for distribution among voters were seized. The Sangh Parivar used Naumani's statements to create an elaborate door-to-door campaign. They worked hard; the MVA was confident of winning and did not match the campaigning. The maulana is not such a powerful person to influence voters. He did not make any polarising statement," said Azimuddin
Some Muslims felt that Naumani did not deserve the harsh criticism. Abdul Razak Maniar, a social worker, said, "During every election, local community leaders suggest names of candidates who they think people should vote for. Naumani made up his list after doing local surveys. However, endorsing an entire list of candidates was not a sensible thing. It could have caused counter-mobilisation of Hindu votes."
