Delhi Polls: 3 Reasons Why BJP Is Confident Of Win In Mustafabad Which Has 40% Muslim Voters – News18

Last Updated:January 14, 2025, 13:07 IST

Delhi elections: Mohan Singh Bisht isn’t happy fighting from a constituency with 40% Muslim voters, with his loyalists assuming the party sacrificed him when they could not disregard him

Here’s the curious case of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) third list — it bore only one name, that of Mohan Singh Bisht, the party’s sitting MLA from Karawal Nagar, contesting from Mustafabad.

The BJP has fielded former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) minister Kapil Mishra from Karawal Nagar, disregarding the five-time MLA Bisht, forcing Bisht to turn into a rebel. Overnight communication channels were opened to assure Bisht that a third list bearing only his name would be put out after Bisht openly criticised the party leadership and called fielding Mishra, whom he called “aire gaire natthu khaire”, a “big mistake”.

The BJP, which had its reasons to panic, kept its promise and released the third list. However, there are still problems for the BJP. Bisht isn’t happy fighting from a constituency with 40% Muslim voters, with his loyalists assuming the party sacrificed him when they could not disregard him.

THE 3 REASONS

The BJP sources staunchly oppose the idea. They cite at least three reasons why Bisht has a better winning chance than his competitors. “The BJP fights to win,” said a BJP functionary at party headquarters.

One, while there is no denying that Mustafabad has 40% Muslim voters, it also has 60% Hindu voters, says the BJP functionary. While the 40% Muslim voters will get divided among three Muslim candidates of the AAP, Congress and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Bisht is set to capitalise on the entire Hindu vote, he insists.

Two, Owaisi’s AIMIM making undertrial former AAP leader Tahir Hussain its Mustafabad candidate will polarise the election in Mustafabad, the BJP hopes. Hussain is an undertrial prisoner in a Delhi riots case.

Finally, BJP sources insist, that more than 60% of the Mustafabad assembly constituency, as we see today, used to be the core work area of Bisht and he was a very popular leader back then. So gelling back will not take a long time, hopes the party.

“I have been an MLA from 1998 to 2008 in Karawal Nagar when Mustafabad assembly constituency was being created. People are coming out in my support here,” Bisht said, expressing hope of winning Mustafabad for the BJP, leaving the animosity behind.

Multiple sources confirmed to News18 that while the BJP’s chance of winning from Mustafabad remains high even after it being a Muslim-dominated seat.

The fact that the party had to yield to Bisht’s tantrums shows two things — his clean image and acceptability in Karawal Nagar, from where he has been sent packing and a fear of caste backlash from Uttarakhandis and Rajputs.

So far, Bisht is the only Uttarakhandi in the Delhi BJP list, while he also hails from the Rajput community. And the BJP not giving him a chance even in Mustafabad could have been counterproductive for the saffron party.