By Arun Srivastava
BJP which did not field a single Muslim candidate, even the old trusted Muslim face, Shahnawaz Hussain, for the Bihar assembly election next month, has expressed cavernous shock and crying hoarse at Congress, which has given ticket to seven Muslims, for not nominating a Muslim legislator as the deputy chief minister.
Representation of a community in parliamentary and electoral politics must commensurate with the increase in its population. The proportionate increase is the fundamental feature of the “one person, one vote” as guaranteed by the democratic principle and Indian Constitution. However, its implementation is designed by the nature of the federalism, regional balance and assertion of the community folk. No doubt this croaking is simply a mechanism to indulge in one-upmanship, it is also an attempt to its utter disregard for democratic principle.
For the last five decades, the share of Muslim population in the parliamentary and electoral politics notwithstanding, increase of their population and showing positive growth in the social, economic and cultural indices, have been on the decline. The question that stares at the democratic and political structure of the country has been, why this has been happening.
In a situation where population growth is taking place without a proportional representation, the urgency to find the reasons becomes imperative. This gives rise to a situation where some areas become overrepresented while others become underrepresented. This leads to creating an imbalance of political power. For rightist forces this may be a wrong perception and is not relevant, but the fact is it has a more dangerous impact on the federal character of the state.
The regional imbalance which has intensified and reinforced during these decades, owes to this element. Of course, even some progressives and socialists do not find fault with the SIR, this has raised the fear of shift of power and losing the identity, which has the potential to strain the federal character of the state.
With population growing at different rates, among different communities, the nature and character of participation in the electoral process is also changing. The victim of this development has been the smaller communities, especially the Muslims and Christians. India’s Muslim population which ranks third globally, behind Indonesia and Pakistan, is not being treated in the right manner. With nearly 220 million population, their participation in the parliamentary politics has decreased below 5% over the last five decades. Muslim parliamentarians have never surpassed the 10% mark, and their representation has sharply declined over the last 30 years. This has led to marginalisation of the Muslim community. Since they are deprived of the political power and share in the legislative activities, they have been marginalised.
This decline becomes even more pronounced when contrasted with the rising Muslim population in India. In 1980, Muslim MPs comprised 9% of the Lok Sabha, while Muslims formed only 11% of the population. Nevertheless, by 2014, despite Muslims reaching 14% of the population, their representation in the Lok Sabha had shrunk to a mere 4%. Therefore, this disparity is precisely gaining significant attention after the 2024 elections. While the shrinking number of Muslim MPs isn’t a recent phenomenon, the results since 2014 and the overall trend are unprecedented. The 16th Lok Sabha witnessed a drop from 30 to just 23 Muslim MPs. Similarly, in 2019, only 26 out of 115 Muslim candidates fielded by various parties secured seats. This trend continued in the latest 18th Lok Sabha, where only 24 out of 78 Muslim candidates fielded by secular parties won elections.
When it comes to secular parties such as Congress, Samajwadi Party, TMC, AAP, NCP, and regional parties, attempts are being made to create an impression that they only seek the votes of the Muslim community without adequately representing them in legislative bodies. Muslims across the nation often vote for secular parties with the hope that their rights will be protected and their voices heard.
For instance, in the Lk Sabha election, Muslims predominantly supported the INDIA alliance, which saw a significant increase in Muslim votes—from 52% in 2019 to 76% in 2024. Experts hold that, three out of every four Muslims voted for the Congress-led alliance.
Over the years, the Muslim population in India has steadily increased, reaching 15% in 2020, according to a projection by the Pew Research Centre. However, the representation of Muslim Members of Parliament (MPs) has never surpassed the 10% mark and has sharply declined over the last 15 years. In India, Muslims are significantly underrepresented in elected bodies, and the notion that they are treated as “pariah” is linked to this issue by scholars and commentators. A combination of socio-economic factors, majoritarian politics, and strategic decisions by political parties results in fewer tickets being given to Muslim candidates.
Electoral decline of the Congress has been primarily responsible for marginalisation of the Muslims. Though some Muslim leaders rightly claim that Congress did not work honestly for the economic development and empowerment of the Muslims, the fact cannot be overlooked that Congress’s initiatives were negated by the Ulemas and Mullahs, who nursed the view that Congress must treat them superior to others. Ironically they continued to nurse the perils of partition.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Muslim representation reached one of its lowest points in six decades. The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has no Muslim MPs, and the overall share of Muslim MPs is just over 4%, far below their population share. Hindu nationalist politics: The rise of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since the 1990s has corresponded with a sharp decline in Muslim representation. This has turned Muslims electorally dispensable.
For 2025 Bihar assembly elections, BJP has not fielded any Muslims, while Congress and Janata Dal(U) have named four and LJP(RV) one; Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party promised to field 40 and named 21; the Muslim population is over 20% in 87 constituencies, and about 75% of the community in the State live in northern Bihar. Muslims account for 17.7% of Bihar’s population.
Bihar had only one chief minister In Abdul Gafoor in 1973. Poor and Dalit Pasmanda Muslims have fared even worse in terms of electoral representation. Despite the community accounting for 73% of the State’s Muslims, just 18% of Muslim MLAs have been Pasmanda so far. In 2020, there were just five Pasmanda MLAs, four from the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and one from the Rashtriya Janata Dal. Congress in charge for Bihar Krishna Allavaru nevertheless clarified “INDIA bloc would have a Muslim deputy CM too, which will be decided after the polls”. (IPA Service)
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