This time 78 Muslim candidates were in the fray. 24 Muslim candidates won. Out of 24 MPs, 21 are from India Alliance.
every In the Lok Sabha elections, everyone’s eyes are definitely on how many Muslim candidates have won. People are also curious to know which area and which party the winning candidates belong to. This time in the 18th Lok Sabha elections, 24 Muslim candidates have won across the country. But this number is two less than the last time. In the 17th Lok Sabha, 26 Muslim candidates had won. But this is more than the number of 2014. In the year 2014, 23 Muslim candidates were elected to the lower house of the Parliament.
This year, 78 Muslim candidates contested in the Lok Sabha elections, while in the last elections, various parties had fielded 115 Muslim candidates. Out of the 24 Muslims, 21 MPs are from the opposition India Alliance. The highest number of nine Muslim MPs have won from the Congress. After that, Trinamool Congress (TMC) has five Muslim MPs. Samajwadi Party (SP) has four, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has three and National Conference (NC) has one MP. Apart from India Alliance, AIMIM has one Muslim MP (Asaduddin Owaisi himself). Apart from this, there are two more Muslim MPs who have won as independents. These are Engineer Rashid from Baramulla and Mohammad Hanifa from Ladakh. The ruling NDA does not have a single Muslim MP.
In total members Share of Muslims 4.42%
The share of Muslims in the total strength of Lok Sabha is now just 4.42%, the second-lowest ever. After electing a record 49 Muslim MPs (9.04% of the House) in 1980 and 45 Muslim MPs (8.3% of the House) in 1984, the number of Muslims in the Lok Sabha has never exceeded 40. In the last three Lok Sabha elections, the proportion of Muslim MPs has fallen below 5%, despite Muslims constituting 14% of the total population, according to the 2011 census.
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There were fewer Muslims this year Candidate
Among the major parties, there were fewer Muslims in the fray this year compared to the 2019 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The 11 major parties fielded a total of 82 Muslim candidates, of whom 16 won. In 2019, these parties fielded 115 candidates, of whom 16 emerged victorious. According to 2011 census data, there are 65 Lok Sabha constituencies where Muslims constitute at least 25% of the total population. This includes 14 constituencies where they constitute at least half the population. Lakshadweep has the highest proportion of Muslims (96.58%).
Know what else the figures say
In 2019 and 2024, the BJP won 25 and 20 seats respectively in these 65 constituencies. The Congress won 12 such seats in 2019 and 13 in 2024. It was followed by the TMC with 10 and 12 seats and the SP with 3 and 8 seats. In 2019, only 19 of these 65 constituencies saw Muslim MPs elected. This year, the figure is 22. The two Muslim MPs elected from constituencies where Muslims make up less than a quarter of the population are SP’s Afzal Ansari from Ghazipur in UP (10.17% Muslim population) and IUML’s Navas Kani from Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu (11.84% Muslim population). In 2019, seven Muslim MPs were elected from Lok Sabha constituencies with less than a quarter Muslim population.
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Rakibul Hussain’s record win from Dhubri
Among the Muslim candidates who won the elections this time, the victory of Rakibul Hussain from Dhubri in Assam was significant in terms of the margin of votes. Congress candidate Hussain defeated AIUDF supremo Badruddin Ajmal by a record 10,12,476 votes. Yusuf Pathan, who was contesting for the first time, defeated Congress leader and his nearest rival Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury by 85,022 votes in the Baharampur Lok Sabha constituency of Murshidabad district in West Bengal.
Congress candidate Imran Masood won from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh by a margin of 64,542 votes, while 29-year-old SP candidate Iqra Chaudhary from Kairana defeated BJP’s Pradeep Kumar by 69,116 votes. SP candidate Afzal Ansari defeated BJP’s Parasnath Rai from Ghazipur Lok Sabha seat. Ansari won by a margin of 1,24,861 votes.
Tags: 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, india alliance, Members of parliament, Muslim, muslim leaders
FIRST PUBLISHED : June 8, 2024, 16:52 IST