CHAMARIA, INDIA — It was village council election season in India’s northeastern state of Assam, and nearly 60,000 people vied for over 24,000 seats.
In a country where political ideology often hinges on religion, voters in at least one Anchalik Panchayat (block-level) race, in Kamrup District, showed that when they cast ballots, there’s a lot more at stake. Assam’s population is roughly 34% Muslim, though by some counts it’s as much as 40%, and growing fast. The front-runners were Muslim: 29-year-old Monjila Ahmed, on the Bharatiya Janata Party ticket; and 30-year-old Hasina Ahmed, on the Indian National Congress Party ticket. Both candidates represented parties that have strong leadership in the state and the country.
But in a surprising turn, 28-year-old Kamela Parbin, an independent candidate and also a Muslim, won the race – an outcome that voters say shows the tension between religious identity, the physical needs of people, and the goals of India’s major political parties.
Monjila Ahmed’s alliance with the BJP, India’s ruling party, was notable because of the party’s slant toward right-wing Hindu politics. Though she was among the favored candidates, some voters ultimately say they couldn’t risk having a BJP member in power in their Muslim-majority constituency. The BJP swept in the district-level and block-level elections. Hasina Ahmed, who aligned with the Indian National Congress Party, rallied around the idea her party was the only one for Muslims.
“The BJP just wants to talk about Hindu-Muslim [relations],” says Afzal Rehman, a resident in the Palashipara area of the constituency from where the three candidates contested for a seat.
It’s a dilemma, he says, when it comes to how voters can align themselves with candidates. Furthermore, representatives of the Congress party have done little for development, he adds.
Global Press Journal’s Angana Chakrabarti photographed the final weeks of campaign season.
Photo Gallery
Angana Chakrabarti, GPJ India
Monjila Ahmed, far right, walks with fellow candidates and Anjan Goswami, president of the BJP’s South Kamrup district unit, during a procession to the party office for a public meeting in Rangapani Bazar, Kamrup district, India, on April 24. In the 2018 panchayat elections, the Congress party won the Bhakhuradia Rangeswari gaon panchayat, even as the BJP dominated statewide. This year, the BJP fielded candidates like Ahmed in the Muslim-majority area in an effort to gain ground from Congress.
Angana Chakrabarti, GPJ India
Monjila Ahmed, right, takes a selfie with her sister-in-law, Farida Ahmed, during the second phase of panchayat elections in Assam on May 7. This time around across the three-village, block and district levels, 50% of the seats were reserved for women.
Angana Chakrabarti, GPJ India
Candidates’ campaign posters hang in the Bhakhuradia Rangeswari gaon panchayat on April 27.
Angana Chakrabarti, GPJ India
Congress supporters celebrate ahead of a public meeting in Rangeswari village, part of the Bhakhuradia Rangeswari gaon panchayat, in Kamrup district, India, on May 2.
Angana Chakrabarti, GPJ India
Monjila Ahmed, 29, rides with her brother, Rafiqul Islam, during a bike rally ahead of elections in Kamrup district, India, on April 24. Ahmed says it was Islam, a longtime Bharatiya Janata Party member, who inspired her to enter politics. “We don’t have proper roads here … some women haven’t received funds from the Orunodoi scheme, and many people still don’t have homes. I plan to work on these issues,” Ahmed says. (The Orunodoi scheme is a direct cash transfer plan for women, promised by the Assam government.)
Angana Chakrabarti, GPJ India
Hasina Ahmed, the Indian National Congress candidate for the Bhakhuradia Rangeswari gaon panchayat, goes door to door in Kamrup district, India, on May 2. During the visits, her husband, who accompanied her, told residents, “Only Congress is for Muslims.”
Angana Chakrabarti, GPJ India
Hasina Ahmed visits residents during her campaign in Kamrup district, India, on May 2. Residents of Palashipara area, in the Bhakhuradia Rangeswari, say voting for Congress would have been an easy choice — if not for poor road conditions. They claimed the previous Congress representative had done little to improve infrastructure.
Angana Chakrabarti, GPJ India
Voters gather for a Congress meeting ahead of panchayat elections in Bhakhuradia Rangeswari village on May 2. Assam’s history of anti-foreigner movements has led to measures like the 1964 Foreigners (Tribunals) Order and the National Register of Citizens, both aimed at identifying so-called “infiltrators.” The NRC excluded over 1.9 million people, raising concerns about statelessness. At the public meeting, Nandita Das, a Congress member of the legislative assembly, asked how many had been affected — several raised their hands. “It was the Congress who helped you then,” she said.
Angana Chakrabarti, GPJ India
People observe the vote-counting process for the panchayat elections in Assam inside a tallying center in Kamrup district, India, on May 11.
Angana Chakrabarti, GPJ India
Hasina Ahmed, Indian National Congress candidate for the Anchalik Panchayat from the Bhakhuradia Rangeswari gaon panchayat, waits inside the counting center at Dakshin Kamrup Girls' College in Mirza, Kamrup district, India, as votes for the panchayat elections are tallied on May 11.
Angana Chakrabarti, GPJ India
Independent candidate Kamela Parbin stands inside the counting center at Dakshin Kamrup Girls' College in Mirza, Kamrup district, India, as votes from the panchayat elections are tallied on May 11. Parbin won the race, defeating both the BJP's Monjila Ahmed and Congress' Hasina Ahmed. “We put a lot into these elections. We went to every house to canvas for votes,” she says.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect election winner and number of seats contested.
