The Muslim voters of Uttar Pradesh were not swayed by the Congress's promises of "quota within quota".
The controversial comments by Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid, who even got pulled up by the Election Commission, could not help his wife Louise, who lost in the Farrukhabad constituency.
As many as 66 Muslim candidates have been elected to the UP assembly this year, surpassing the record set in the 2007 polls, when 55 candidates from the minority community were elected.
Reportage: A correspondent in Delhi
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Who did the Muslim voters choose?
The maximum number of winning candidates belong to the Samajwadi Party (41), followed by the Bahujan Samaj Party (15). This shows a consolidation of the Muslim votes in favour of Mulayam Singh Yadav's SP.
The Congress can console itself on the fact that four of its Muslim candidates got elected, while three Muslim parties together bagged six seats -- Peace Party (3), Qaumi Eka Dal (2) and Ittehade Millat Council (1).
Muslims form the majority of voters in 130 of the 403 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, with a concentration of 30-45 per cent in 30 constituencies and nearly 20 per cent in 70 others.
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Who did the Muslim voters choose?
That is why all parties, except the Bharatiya Janata Party, had fielded a score of Muslim candidates. The SP and BSP had both fielded 85 candidates and the Congress had fielded 59.
BJP's candidate Shakeel Alam had to forfeit his deposit in Sahaswan constituency in Badaun district. Incidentally, in 2007, the party had not fielded any Muslim candidate.
This year's winners include SP general secretary Mohammad Azam Khan, who won from Rampur by a margin of over 62,000 votes against Congress rival Dr Tanveer Ahmad Khan.
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Who did the Muslim voters choose?
Delhi's Shahi Imam Ahmad Bukhari's son-in-law and Samajwadi Party nominee Umar Ali Khan lost miserably in Behat constituency in Saharanpur district. Peace Party supremo's son Mohammad Irfan finished fifth in Mubarakpur.
Shazil Islam Ansari, the lone winner from Ittehad Millat Council, was the minister of state of Wakf in the Mayawati-led government. He was denied a ticket by the BSP.
Winners of the Qaumi Ekta Dal are the Ansari brothers -- alleged mafia don Mukhtar Ansari and his brother Sibgtullah Ansari.
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