My article points to the rarity of Muslims in the leadership structure of popular political parties — the Jai Prakash Janata Dal wasn’t one — contesting from places having a negligible Muslim presence. The comparisons in my article show the risk the AAP has taken in fielding one of its prominent leaders from R.K. Puram even though Muslims have a poor chance of winning from constituencies where the community is barely present. The phrase used was “crack, if not shatter, the mould of identity politics,” thus suggesting one nomination is a harbinger of hope than an expression of absolute certainty that it will break long established tradition.
(Ajaz Ashraf is a Delhi-based journalist. E-mail: ashrafajaz3@gmail.com)
