Present Bihar Assembly has lowest Muslim representation in 60 years

By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,

Patna: The current 14th Bihar Legislative Assembly has the lowest number of Muslim Members since Independence. Since the first state assembly poll held in 1952 in Bihar the present assembly – for which elections were held in 2005 which saw victory of JD-U and BJP combine – is the first in last 60 years to witness the lowest Muslim representation.

---

Support TwoCircles

---

While Muslims have always been in double digit of percentage of state population, the community got double digit of percentage of representation only once – in 1985 when the number of Muslim MLAs was 34, the highest ever in the state, pushing the percentage of representation to 10.5% of the Assembly seats. Generally their representation has been around 5-7%. In 1952, they were 24 (7.27%) when the total strength of the house was 331. In 2005, the last election, they were 16, that is 6.58% of the 243-seated Assembly.

According to Census 2001, Muslims constitute 16.5% of the state population. In the 2000 Assembly poll, 20 Muslims were elected to the House, making it 9.87% of the then 324-seated legislative body. In the 2005 Assembly poll, first after the bifurcation leading to formation of Jharkhand state (in 2000), only 16 Muslims (6.58%) could be elected to the House – the fewest since Independence.

What is the reason for the decline?

“The incumbent government of Rashtriya Janata Dal of Lalu Yadav had fielded many Muslim candidates in 2005, but most of them lost, and the party lost the government as well,” says eminent political analyst and senior journalist Soroor Ahmed.

Lok Janshakti Party of Ram Vilas Paswan had fielded 47 Muslim candidates but only one could win while RJD and Congress had jointly fielded 46. Five Muslims could win on Congress ticket and four on RJD’s. So, one reason could be the division of secular votes when JD-U and BJP fought the election together. The JD-U had fielded only 9 Muslim candidates, and four them won.

Will JD-U increase the number of Muslim tickets in the coming October Assembly poll? “Yes, it could be, as the party and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar have been apparently trying to appease the Muslim vote. The developments in the last two weeks are pointer to this fact,” says Ahmed.

It is certain that Congress, RJD, LJP and like-minded parties will be trying to give many seats to Muslims but it is to be seen if Nitish, who has been visiting Mazars and Khanqahs off and on – almost once a week, will give proper representation to the community when it comes to distribution of tickets.

Muslim representation in Bihar Assembly- 1952–2005

[Photo by panoramio.com]