Infighting among Muslim leaders in Cong comes to fore

Surat: Congress councillor from Limbayat ward has stirred a hornet's nest with his accusation against senior Congress leaders in the city for remaining inactive during election campaigning, which damaged the prospects of party candidates in at least four assembly seats.
A disgruntled Congress councillor from Limbayat Iqbal Belim has put the blame on Congress leaders — Kadir Peerzada and Rizwan Usmani — in social media for party's defeat in at least four assembly constituencies, where the candidates could have been victorious.

Belim was among the Muslim leaders who had strongly lobbied in Congress for giving ticket to a Muslim candidate, either in Limbayat or Surat (East) assembly constituency. Banners seeking support of Muslim community had come up in the walled city and Limbayat areas to support 'Our MLA' campaign. In some of the areas, banners had come up asking Muslim voters to stay away from exercising their franchise if the party gave ticket to a non-Muslim candidate.

Belim told TOI, "Congress party was defeated in at least four assembly seats because Muslim leaders like Kadir Peerzada and Rizwan Usmani were not active. During the elections, these leaders did not even organize a single meeting in Muslim-dominated area or campaigned for party candidates."

Belim added, "These two leaders are ruling Surat Congress for last 30 years and they do not want to see a third leader emerging in the party. They are blaming me for party's defeat on Limbayat seat. I am not earning anything from politics. I am doing the work of the poor in my ward. I am ready to leave the party."
As per an analysis of Muslim votes in three assembly constituencies — namely Surat (East), Surat (North) and Limbayat, around 17,000 voters had not given their votes to Congress. Out of the total of 1,75,995 Muslim voters, Congress candidates in these constituencies collectively received 1,59,691 votes.
Sources said Congress candidate from Surat (East) Nitin Bharuch lost the election with a margin of 12,743 votes to BJP's Arvind Rana. In this constituency, there are 69,698 Muslim voters and the Congress candidate received 59,291 votes, 10,398 votes less.
Kadir Peerzada told TOI, "Who is Iqbal Belim? I don't know him. I had campaigned for our candidates in Surat (East) and Surat (North) constituencies. I campaigned in 36 assembly seats of Gujarat and the party had won 26 of them. The voting percentage of Muslim voters has increased by over 80 per cent, which was not the case in 2012 election. This time, Muslim voters voted for Congress."
by via Surat News, Latest Surat News Headlines & Live Updates - Times of India