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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | The dwindling minority -Christophe Jaffrelot & Gilles Verniers

The dwindling minority -Christophe Jaffrelot & Gilles Verniers

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published Published on Aug 1, 2018   modified Modified on Aug 1, 2018
-The Indian Express

Drop in Muslim representation in legislatures is related to the rise of the BJP.

Muslim MPs currently occupy 19 seats of the Lok Sabha (or 3.5 per cent of its members), the lowest figure since 1952. Between 1980 and 2014, the representation of Muslim MPs in the lower house of India’s Parliament has diminished by nearly two-third even as the share of Muslims in the population rose during the same period. Consequently, the gap between their proportion of the population (which rose from 11.1 to 14.2 per cent between 1981 and 2011) and that of their elected representatives in Lok Sabha (which dropped from 9 per cent in 1980 to 3.5 per cent currently) has increased five-fold, jumping from two to 10 percentage points. Responsibility for this trend lies primarily with the BJP, which since 1980 has fielded only 20 Muslim candidates in general elections, of which only three won.

In 2009, the BJP fielded four Muslim candidates, or 0.48 per cent of the total, and only one got elected. In 2014, it fielded seven Muslim candidates out of 428 (less than 2 per cent) and none were elected. For the first time in India’s history, the winning party in the general elections had no Muslim in its parliamentary group in Lok Sabha. For the first time also, in UP, where Muslims make up over 18 per cent of the population and where the BJP won 71 out of 80 seats, not a single Muslim MP got elected (compared to 6 in 2009 and 10 in 2004), until the recent by-election in Kairana.

The BJP’s decision not to field any Muslim candidates aims to liberate the party entirely from the “Muslim vote” that it accuses other parties of wooing for electoral gain at the expense of the Hindu majority. The low representation of Muslims also stems from other parties, who are reluctant to field Muslim candidates in constituencies other than those with a high concentration of Muslim voters. This tactic was especially clear in the Congress’ case, which the BJP accused of cultivating a Muslim vote bank by showing concern for their social and economic condition — a false concern if one goes by the impoverishment of Muslims in the UPA regime.

The BJP’s accusation of minority favouritism falls flat when one considers that the Congress hasn’t fielded more than 7 per cent Muslim candidates since the early 1990s, when its decline accelerated. In 2009, the Congress, unwilling to embrace its traditional secularism, only endorsed 29 Muslim candidates (or 7 per cent of the total), of whom only 10 won seats. In 2014, only 7 of the 31 Congress Muslim candidates won. The Congress is hardly a “Muslim party” if one goes by factual evidence.

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The Indian Express, 30 July, 2018, https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/muslims-politicians-in-india-bjp-narendra-modi-government-5282128/lite/


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