Shahnawaz Hussain loses

Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, the lone Muslim minister in Vajpayee's cabinet, lost in Bihar's Kishanganj constituency.

Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, the lone Muslim minister in Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's cabinet, was Thursday defeated in Bihar's Kishanganj constituency.

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He fell to Taslimuddin of Bihar's ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal.

Kishenganj has 66 percent Muslim electors. Outside the Kashmir Valley and except for Lakshwadweep, Kishanganj has the maximum concentration of Muslims.

In 1999, Hussain did not just win Kishanganj, he created history by registering the BJP's first ever victory from a Muslim majority constituency.

This time around, the Muslims apparently did not forget his silence over the sectarian violence in Gujarat in 2002 in which over 1,000 people, most of them Muslims, were killed.