M. I. Khan, TwoCircles.net
Patna: The popular slogans of “jiski jitni sankhya bhari, uski utni bhagidari” (the greater the number, the greater will be his participation) or “jitni abaadi, utni hissedari” (the greater the population, the greater the share) seemingly went for a toss when the time came to walk the talk. Muslims in Bihar are upset after they were denied due share in candidate selection for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
After the much-hyped caste survey report was made public last year, then Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had said it would ensure proportionate political representation to all sections of the society in the state.
Contrary to the claim, candidates belonging to the Muslim community, which as per the 2023 caste census report constitutes 17.7 percent of Bihar’s total population, was given four of the total 40 Lok Sabha seats by the INDIA bloc — with both the RJD and the Congress nominating two Muslims each.
While Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) fielded only one Muslim to contest, his coalition partner, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as usual did not find any candidate from the community.
The Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) or LJP (Ram Vilas) — an ally of the ruling NDA — this time also totally ignored Muslims in candidate selection.
While the RJD is contesting 23 seats, the Congress has got nine constituencies, Left parties five and the Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP) three under the INDIA coalition.
Similarly, under the umbrella of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the JD-U is contesting 16 seats, the BJP 17, the LJP five and the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) one each.
However, the caste census data indicates that EBCs have the maximum of 36% population followed by OBCs (27.12%), the Scheduled Caste (19.6518%), the Scheduled Tribe (1.6824%) and the general castes (15.5224%). Meanwhile, while Muslims are at 17.7088%, the Hindus comprise 81.9986% of the population.
As per Muslims’ share in the state population, the community should have got at least seven seats. But all parties have given weightage to OBC communities of Yadav and Koeri (Kushwaha), “upper” castes, EBCs (Extreme Backward Castes), but the minorities were conveniently denied their due share.
Former Rajya Sabha MP Ali Anwar, who is also founding-president of Patna-based All India Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz (AIPMM), finds decreasing political representation of Muslims a “matter of serious concern”.
“All political parties should give the community its proportionate share in ticket distribution. But this time, the real fight is to save the Constitution and democracy. We are more concerned about defeating fascist forces,” he told TwoCircles.net.
He said the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked a lot about pasmanda (backward) Muslims but totally ignored them in ticket distribution.
He cautioned though it is true that Muslims have limited alternatives to vote and support, yet no political party should take the minorities for granted. “We will not do anything that communal forces from the Hindu majority and Muslim minority will take advantage of during elections,” he added.
A Muslim intellectual, on condition of anonymity, said it is not easy for secular parties, especially regional outfits, to field more Muslims in elections in an increasingly polarised society like India.
“It is a matter of risk to field Muslim candidates in view of the winnability factor. As of now, more than contesting elections, the focus should be to support and vote for secular parties,” he advised.
The RJD has fielded Shahnawaz Alam, the party’s MLA, from Muslim-concentrated Araia parliamentary constituency in the backward and impoverished Seemanchal region.
Alam is the son of former Union minister and veteran RJD leader Mohammad Taslimuddin — who was also popularly known as “Seemanchal Gandhi”.
Another Muslim nominee of the RJD is Mohmmad Ali Ashraf Fatmi who is in the fray from Madhubani. A four-time Darbhanga MP (twice each from the RJD and the erstwhile Janata Dal), he had crossed over to the JD(U) in 2019.
Despite having fancied chances of getting a JD(U) ticket either for Darbhanga or Madhubani, he had lost hope after Kumar switched over to the NDA in January and returned to the RJD.
Several Muslim aspirants to contest elections left in lurch this time. However, RJD spokesperson Ejaz Ahmad said it is not right to allege that his party ignored Muslims.
“Infact, our rivals have been accusing the RJD and its top leaders Laluji and Tejashwi Yadav ji of championing the Muslim causes,” he said.
The Congress has fielded its lone sitting MP Mohammad Jawed from Muslim-majority Kishanganj, which has nearly 68% population of the community.
Notably, it was Kishanganj that rejected both the BJP and the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) in 2019 and elected the Congress MP.
The second Congress’s Muslim candidate in the fray is Tariq Anwar from Katihar, another parliamentary constituency in the Seemanchal region with sizable Muslim population. Anwar is also a former Union minister and veteran Congress leader.
The JD-U has fielded lone Muslim candidate Mujahid Alam, party’s former MLA, to take on Jawed from Kishanganj.
Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM, which is seeking to offer Muslims a political alternative, is reportedly contesting 11 seats in Bihar. The party has fielded its lone MLA Akhtarul Iman from Kishanganj. Iman has unsuccessfully contested from the district as the party candidate.
As this is the first Lok Sabha polls after Bihar released a caste survey report, Muslims have grievances against the RJD, the JD-U and the LJP if not the BJP.
“Muslims are more loyal to Lalu’s RJD than his own caste (Yadav). The formidable combination of Muslims and Yadavs (known as M-Y equation) is a decades old well-tested support base of the RJD. But in ticket distribution, Yadavs, who should have got five-six seats, got nine from the RJD, while the Muslims were nominated at two only. What surprises us is that the RJD has given three seats to the VIP headed by Mukesh Sahni, whose caste population stands at 2.6%,” said Arman Khan, who hails from Aurangabad district.
His voice was echoed by Salam Ahmad, a young roadside vendor in Phulwarisharif locality in Patna.
“The RJD should at least have fielded an equal number of Muslim and Yadav candidates to ensure that they get their proportionate share. The party nominated three candidates from the Kushwaha or Koeri caste, which accounts for just 4.2%. Is it justified that Muslims got only two seats from the RJD quota?” he asked.
After the LJP denied the ticket to the party incumbent MP from Khagaria, Mahboob Ali Qaiser, the only Muslim MP of the BJP-led NDA, quit the Chiragh Paswan-led party and joined the RJD recently.
Ahmad Ashfaque Karim, former Rajya Sabha MP of the RJD quit the party and joined the JD-U after he was not named as a candidate.
Karim, who also runs the Katihar Medical College and Hospital, was unhappy after the RJD denied him a second term in the Rajya Sabha in March 2024. He was keen to contest the Lok Sabha elections this time.
After resigning the RJD, he alleged discrimination against Muslims in the party. But he cannot dare to question why his party (the JD-U) nominated only one Muslim.
Bihar had sent two Muslims to Lok Sabha in 2019, four in 2014 and three in 2009.
Maulana Shibli Al Qasmi, head of the Imarat Sharia, an influential Muslim body in the state, also reiterated the allegation that political parties neglected Muslims in ticket distribution.
Anwarul Hoda, secretary of the Bihar chapter of the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, said the lowest numbers of Muslim candidates are in the fray in this election and it reveals that even the political parties, which claim themselves to be the champion of secularism, consider Muslims voters only.