Aruna Shyam Upadhyay, a scheduled caste woman has been elected as a councillor in the Anandnagar area of Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh on the ticket of All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).
Upadhyay considers her victory as a victory over hate politics and communalism. She believes that her win will pave way for communal harmony, brotherhood and humanity in the district as she is deeply pained by the communal riots that unfolded in the city earlier this year.
On April 10, 2022, Khargone witnessed the worst communal riots when a Ram Navami procession turned violent and started attacking Muslim households. During the investigation, the district administration also razed down the houses, business establishments and shops majorly belonging to Muslims citing that they are punishing ‘rioters and accused’ in the violence.
Speaking with The Cognate over call, Upadhyay told, “She is very influenced by the idea of India professed by AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and that’s why I was interested in contesting the election on its seat”.
She said, “AIMIM is the only political party in India right now that exhibits the true essence of secularism on which this entire nation stands”.
On asking why she chose AIMIM and no other national political parties? She said, “We have trusted Congress, BJP and other parties for a long time and nothing came out of it except hate-filled politics and further oppression of minorities. They have not given us minorities any benefit all these years after taking our votes only, it is the time for us to give chance to others”.
Hyderabad-based AIMIM is expanding its way to other states.
The party contested 7 seats, out of a total of 33 in the Khargone Municipal Council and won three of them. The seat won by Upadhyay was reserved for a woman candidate from the SC community.
Upadhyay registered her win by defeating a BJP contestant with a very thin margin of votes. The BJP candidate secured 612 votes while getting 31 more votes, she won with 643 votes.
Upadhayay said that her victory is a victory of brotherhood and humanity and not on any religious line.
“I will work on the upliftment of the society and making it more inclusive for all the communities”.
Belonging to a Dalit family she only got the opportunity to study till class 12th and give all the credits to her husband for encouraging her to contest the polls.
She said, “Being a woman and that too from SC community is a challenge in itself, but the support I received from the community is overwhelming”.
“It is the people’s victory”, she concluded.
Sarfaraz Khan, Khargone City President of AIMIM called it a victory of the constitution and Owaisi’s idealism of unity.
He said, “Aruna herself showed interest in contesting elections on AIMIM’s ticket because the party has managed to gain the trust of people whereas other parties are losing it after being established for many years”.
He said, “It is the inclusive nature of the party’s principles that it is attracting people from all communities”.
“When she first came to us and told us that she wants to contest on AIMIM, we gave all the deserved respect to her move and the party instantly agreed to give her a ticket. It is this simple”.
“Like India’s constitution, AIMIM also believes in equal representation irrespective of anyone’s religion. AIMIM is for all and open to all sects of society. This is what makes it different from other political parties”.
In the 33-member local body, BJP has secured 18 seats, while 8 are won by independent candidates. Congress managed to get 4 seats and AIMIM won 3.
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Ghazala Ahmad is the Delhi Correspondent for The Cognate.
