NEW DELHI: The Muslim population in West Bengal dumped the Left-Congress combine and voted for the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress in the just-concluded Assembly elections in the state, while the community backed the Congress and the AIUDF in Assam, according to the CVoter Exit Poll for Times Now/ABP News released on Thursday.
The two districts of West Bengal where the Muslim population voted for the Left-Congress combine are Murshidabad and Malda, but everywhere else they voted for Mamata Banerjee, as per the exit poll survey.
In Bengal, 22 per cent Muslim voters supported the Left-Congress combine, while a whopping 67.3 per cent voted for the ruling Trinamool Congress. The BJP received only 6.1 per cent Muslim votes in the state, as per the exit poll data.
"The sheer size of the Muslim population in the state gives a head start to the Trinamool in West Bengal, while the same happens for the Congress and the AIUDF in Assam," C-Voter founder and psephologist Yashwant Deshmukh told IANS.
The survey also stated that in West Bengal, the entry of a Muslim front — comprising the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and the new party Indian Secular Front formed by influential cleric Abbas Siddiqui — into the electoral fray failed to spell trouble for the Trinamool Congress.
In Assam, 76.2 per cent Muslim voters voted for the Congress and the AIUDF, 6.4 per cent voted for the BJP and 17.5 per cent voted for others.
West Bengal had a population of 9.13 crore as per the 2011 Census data. According to the 2011 Census of India, West Bengal had over 2.47 crore Muslims, who formed 27.01 per cent of the state's population.
As per the 2011 Census, Assam had a population of total 3.12 crore people, including 1.07 crore, or 34.22 per cent, Muslims. (IANS)
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