A video of a burqa-clad young woman asking ‘Kaisa haraya’, with a twinkle in her eyes and a burqa smile, has gone viral on social media. Another clip of the same victory speechin which it refers to “making the city green”, has generated police notices, political reactions and accusations of communalizing Mumbra politics, catapulting it to the national attention.
The woman at the center of the controversy is Sahar Shaikh, 29, one of the youngest businesswomen chosen from Mumbra in Thane Municipal Corporation elections. Contesting on an All India Majlis and Ittehad ul Muslimeen ticket, Shaikh won from Ward 30, defeating candidates backed by rival factions of the Nationalist Congress Party in what is considered a stronghold of four-time local MLA Jitendra Awhad in the Kalwa Mumbra belt, an area with a dominant Muslim population.
Responding to the allegations, Shaikh rejected the charge of communal intent. “I said green because the AIMIM flag was green and had nothing to do with any religious comment. I am a secular person and people should stop communal politics,” Sahar Shaikh said. The Indian Expressa day after BJP leaders Kirit Somaiya and Niranjan Davkhare lodged a police complaint accusing her of engaging in communal politics and trying to divide people along religious lines. In the same victory speech in which he mentioned Kaisa Haraya, he said: “Even in the next municipal elections after five years, inshallah, we have to give them an even stronger message and all the candidates must be from AIMIM. Mumbra must be completely painted green.”
While Shaikh has received criticism from both the BJP and parties that describe themselves as secular for her and her father’s harsh verbal attacks on Jitendra Awhad, her rise also reflects a broader political shift. Shaikh, a newcomer to the AIMIM, symbolizes the growing political assertion of young Muslims who are increasingly seeking alternatives to the established parties and gravitating towards the AIMIM. This trend was evident in the recent civic polls, where the party won 125 corporate seats across Maharashtra.
Shaikh’s entry into the AIMIM came after he was denied a ticket by the NCP Sharad Pawar faction, which Awhad effectively controls in Thane. Graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Management Studies Bombay University in 2017, Shaikh comes from a politically active family. His father, Yunus Shaikh, is a long-time associate of Awhad, who occupies a distinctive place in Maharashtra politics, having been elected three times from a constituency where Muslims make up nearly 44 per cent of the electorate. Yunus Shaikh was part of Awhad’s inner circle and worked closely with him to build his political base in the constituency.
According to the family, it was Awhad who encouraged Sahar to become active in politics. What followed was a sustained outreach effort that combined on-the-ground social work with self-promotion through social media. Shaikh used her Instagram account to post short clips, many of which went viral, helping her gain 4.32 lakh followers.
In most of the videos, she is seen wearing a lapel microphone attached to her scarf, appealing to residents to keep their surroundings clean and encouraging them “not to throw old furniture and mattresses into drains.”
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Other clips show her cutting ribbons at newly opened shops, talking about ensuring school admission for children under the Right to Education Act, participating in sanitization drives and walking through overflowing nullahs to draw attention to civic problems and demand action from authorities.
However, close to the elections, Awhad denied Shaikh the candidacy, causing strong resentment within the family. “My daughter was preparing for the IAS and it was Awhad who insisted that she get actively involved in politics. After all her hard work, he had the nerve to deny her a ticket and is promoting people at the expense of old supporters like me,” said her father Yunus, a local businessman and social activist.
It was after this rift that Yunus Shaikh approached the AIMIM just days before the elections. The party, which was looking to expand its presence in the region, offered Sahar a ticket. Relying on his established popularity on social media and the groundwork done by his father, he garnered 12,964 votes. He defeated Rumana Shaikh of the NCP faction Sharad Pawar, who received 7,665 votes, and Siddiqui Farha of the NCP faction Ajit Pawar, who received 6,057 votes.
The police warning appears to have made Shaikh more cautious immediately after her victory. By keeping a low profile, she wants to emphasize that she is not a provocateur. Shaikh describes himself as a basketball player and makeup artist and said, “I used to have an Instagram page dedicated to makeup and lifestyle tips for popular women. However, my father has been in politics for almost three decades and seeing the work he did up close, I always wanted to take that path.”
