BJP and Congress seek answers in Bhopal North

BHOPAL: Bhopal North- the only seat which now has Muslim representation in Madhya Pradesh - has seen electoral transformation like no other constituency in the state.
Once dominated by left leaning leaders from both, Hindu and Muslim communities, who successfully fought the merger movement against royal family of Bhopal, the seat gradually slipped into "communal trap" and now there is no greater issue than "Hindu-Muslim" in the constituency.

The seat, which was won by legendry Shakir Ali Khan of CPI for five terms from 1962 to 1977, saw his ally in the merger movement and another CPI leader Bal Kishan Gupta receiving only 1,479 votes (1.48 per cent of the total votes) in 1990 election.
It was also the election, when Arif Akil stormed into electoral scene as an independent candidate and won the seat. Amid tension, this election showed Akil portraying himself as "saviour of Muslims" in the constituency and relegated the Congress candidate and former minister, Hasnat Siddiqui, to third position.
Ramesh Chander Sharma of BJP came second. It was in fact the defining election in the constituency and despite Arif Akil, who now spells his name as "Arif Aqueel", adopting a more accommodative and inclusive approach, the "secular" character of the constituency has not been restored. Come whatever, it is Aqueel who matters in this constituency.
The BJP, despite attempts to motivate Hindus to vote collectively, has not been able to find a leader, who could wrest the seat from the Congress and more precisely, Aqueel.
Ramesh Chander Sharma, who now spells his name as Ramesh Sharma "Guttu", was able to win the seat in 1993 in the aftermath of riots, which hit Bhopal in December 1992 following the Babri mosque demolition. Arif Aqueel in that election, too, had not been accepted by the Congress perhaps because of his "aggressive posturing" as a hardline Muslim leader, but he still managed to win on Janata Dal ticket and by polling 43.47% of valid votes.
Moderates like Rasool Ahmed Siddiqui, who got only 5.26% votes in this election and Hasnat Siddiqui, who had secured 7.96% votes in 1990 election, had been completely sidelined by then.
Congress, sensing that Aqueel, is their only option if they wish to wrest the seat from BJP, which it had won for the first time in 1993, fielded him in 1998 election. Aqueel won the seat with a huge margin.
Aqueel, who changed his spelling in 2003, has been winning the seat for the Congress ever since.
Political observers believe that he has by now groomed a sizeable Hindu population as his voters and it's the reason why none among the BJP leaders- Alok Sharma, Rameshwar Sharma or others with the exception of Ramesh Sharma "Guttu Bhaiyya' want to be fielded against Aqueel.