Residents of village Rajanpur of Mavai block in Rudauli assembly constituency, a Hindu-majority , elected Hafiz Azimuddin Khan as their gram pradhan (village head).Hafiz Azim’s family is the only Muslim family in this predominantly Hindu village.Hafiz was the lone Muslim candidate with seven Hindu candidates in fray.
Azim bagged 200 of the total 600 votes, he polled 85 votes more than his nearest rival. There are 27 Muslim voters in Rajapur and all are from Azim’s extended family.The rest of the votes have come from Hindus who reposed their faith in Azim, who called his poll victory an Eid gift.It shows that the idea of cultural harmony in India survives despite all odds.
Azim is a farmer by profession, and holds a degree of Hafiz and Aalim from a madrassa. He taught in madrassa for 10 years before joining his family in farming.He plans to spend the gram pradhan funds on the development of his village, augmenting basic amenities and providing jobs to all entitled under MNREGA. Ayodhya, around 155 km from the state capital, has been in focus for the ongoing construction work of Ram Mandir.
Due to Covid-19 pandemic, the state government has postponed oath taking ceremony of gram pradhans and zila panchayat members.The government has also postponed election of chairman, zila panchayat and block pramukhs.
Newly elected zila panchayat members elect zila panchayat chairman in all 75 districts of the state. Now, these elections are expected to take place after June 15.
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