BHOPAL: In the Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls, Congress leaders Arif Masood and Atif Arif Aqueel emerged victorious in Bhopal Central and Bhopal North, respectively.
However, another Congress Muslim leader, Nafees Mansha, who contested from the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen after being denied a ticket by the Congress, faced defeat in Burhanpur.
Arif Masood secured a victory over the Bharatiya Janata Party's Dhruv Narayan Singh with a margin of 15,891 votes in Bhopal Central. Meanwhile, Atif Arif Aqueel defeated the ruling party's Alok Sharma by 26,987 votes in Bhopal North.
In Burhanpur, Nafees Mansha received 33,853 votes, surpassing the victory margin of BJP's Archana Chitnis against Congress's Thakur Surendra Singh. Archana Chitnis won by a margin of 31,171 votes.
Muslims, constituting around 7 per cent of Madhya Pradesh's population, estimated at 50 lakh, are predominantly concentrated in Bhopal and the Malwa region.
(With agency inputs)
