In the 18th Lok Sabha in 2024, 23 Muslim Law Makers will represent the community in Parliament, fourteen out of them are in constituencies where the community is in majority. In the 2019 General Lok Sabha witnessed the lowest Muslim Representation at only 22 MPs, while the Muslim community has the second largest population of India.
The Indian Muslim community has its highest ever representation in the Lok Sabha at 49 MPs, in 1980. Although Muslim voters are seen as a decisive factor in each election season, representation for the community, even in States where it forms a sizeable percentage of the population, remains low.
The Indian National Congress, SP, and TMC, key political parties of the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) have given fewer seats to Muslim candidates this election. In 2024, the Congress nominated Muslims in only 19 seats when compared with 34 in 2019 whereas the TMC fielded six Muslim candidates when compared with 13 in 2019 and the Samajwadi Party had only four Muslim candidates, half the number it had in 2019.
Both the INC, TMC and SP are known to secure a sizeable number of Muslim votes.
Political analyst Rashid Kidwai feels that a truncated mandate for the BJP notwithstanding, Muslim candidates were unlikely to be nominated in higher numbers. “I don’t see this changing anytime soon,” he said. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) fielded 35 Muslim candidates in 2024, the highest among all parties, albeit almost half of the 61 it fielded in 2014. Opposition parties have, however, branded this an attempt to divide the community’s votes in constituencies where it matters in order to benefit the BJP, a narrative which is recurrent in many constituencies across the country that have a sizeable number of Muslim voters. The Hindu – reported
Muslim Candidates elected From Uttar Pradesh:
Iqra Hasan Choudhary, SP Candidate (Kairana)
SP’s 28 years old Iqra Hasan Choudhary, law graduate from London defeated the BJP candidate Pradeep Kumar with 69116 votes from Kairana Parliamentary Constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Iqra secured 528013. Iqra abled to secure this seat with cohesion between Jats and Muslims in Kairana. Jats, a powerful agrarian community, hold an impactful population in this Parliamentary Constituency. Iqra’s campaign was however very personalized and strategic.
Imran Masood, INC Candidate (Saharanpur)
Congress candidate Imran Masood won this seat with securing 5,47,967 votes and defeated BJP candidate Raghav Lakhanpal with +64,542 votes. Masood called himself a “descendant of Lord Rama by faith” during the campaign. The powerful Thakurs/Rajput’s of Saharanpur held a Mahapanchayat in Deoband before Lok Sabha Election and decided to vote in a non-BJP Candidate. This impacted the traditional majority votes of BJP and became a significant factor behind Masood’s victory.
Afzal Ansari, SP Candidate (Ghazipur, UP)
Afzal Ansari, for the second time secured his victory from Gazipur Constituency in UP and defeated his rival BJP Candidate Paras Nath Rai. Ansari got 5,39,912 votes and won with massive victory margin of more than 1 Lakh 24 thousand votes. Afzal is the brother of SP’s former MLA Mukhtar Ansari, who died in April, 2024. The death of Mukhtar also created an anger among the supporters of Mukhtar and created a narrative among Muslim voters about the repression faced in a BJP-ruled State towards Muslims.
Ghazipur’s parliamentary reach encompasses five assembly constituencies namely; Ghazipur Sadar, Jangipur, Zamania, and Jakhanian.
Mohibbullah, SP Candidate (Rampur, UP)
Samajwadi Party’s candidate Mohibbullah secured his victory by margin of 87,4334 votes and defeated his rival candidate BJP’s Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi who got 39,4069 votes. Mohibbullah got overall 48,1503 votes and registered his victory. SP fielded Mohibbullah in Rampur, a Muslim majoritarian seat where SP secured his victory.
Zia Ur Rahman, SP Candidate (Sambhal, UP)
SP candidate Zia Ur Rahman won the Sambhal Lok Sabha seat with a massive margin of 12,1494 votes while overall securing 57,1161 votes and defeated his rival BJP candidate Parmeshwar Lal Saini who got 44,9667 votes.
From West Bengal:
Yusuf Pathan, AITC Candidate (Baharampur, West Bengal)
TMC Candidate former cricketer Yusuf Pathan have won from Baharampur Constituency in West Bengal and secured 5,24,516 votes and defeated his rival Congress State President Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. Yusuf Pathan secured 37.9% votes. Adhir blamed the BJP’s polarisation for his defeat.
Isha Khan Chaudhari, INC Candidate (Maldaha Dakshin, West Bengal)
From Maldha Dakshin Constituency, Indian National Congress Candidate Isha Khan Choudhary secured his victory with accruing 41.8% vote share. Khan got 5,72,395 votes and defeated his rival BJP candidate Sreerupa Mitra Chaudhary who got 4,72,395 votes.
Maldaha Dakshin (South) is among the few constituencies in the country where the minority population is in majority.
Khalil Ur Rahaman, AITC Candidate (Jangipur, West Bengal)
All India Trinamool Congress Candidate Khalilur Rahman secured his victory from Jangipur Lok Sabha Seat with a victory margin of 1,16,637 votes and secured overall 5,44,427 votes and defeated his rival Congress candidate Murtoja Hossain Bokul, who got 4,27,790 votes. TMC holds a major favor from Muslim Majority Lok Sabha seat for a period of time, even Khali Ur Rahaman since 2019 representing Jangipur in the Parliament.
Abu Taher Khan, AITC Candidate (Murshidabad, West Bengal)
In Murshidabad Lok Sabha seat Trinamool candidate Abu Taher registered his win with victorious margin of 1,64,214 votes and secured total 6,82,442 votes and defeated his opposite CPI (Marxist) candidate MD Salim who secured 5,18,227 votes. Murshidabad is also among few Muslim Majoritarian Lok Sabha Seats.
Sajda Ahmed, AITC Candidate (Uluberia, West Bengal)
With a massive victory margin of more than 2 lakh 80 thousand votes, Trinamool’s Candidate Sajda Ahmed secured her second consecutive victory with overall 7,24,622 votes and defeated rival BJP candidate Arunuday Paul Chowdhury, who got 5,05,949 votes and losses his election from Sajda. She is wife of late MP Sultan Ahmed.
In 2019 Lok Sabha election, Sajda defeated BJP’s Joy Banerjee and representing Uluberia Lok Sabha Seat since 2019.
SK Nurul Islam, AITC Candidate (Basirhat, West Bengal)
From Basirhat Lok Sabha seat, Trinamool’s SK Nurul Islam secured a significant victory with margin of more than 3 lakh votes i.e. 3,33,547 and got overall 8,03,762 votes and defeated his rival candidate BJP’s Rekha Patra who got 4,70,215 votes.
The Basirhat constituency was in the news lately due to the Sandeshkhali violence. BJP made Rekha Patra, one of the alleged victims of Sandeshkhali, its candidate from Basirhat. In the 2019 Lok Sabha Election, TMC candidate Nusrat Jahan won the seat by 3,50,369 votes, with the party receiving 54% of vote share while BJP secured 30.31% of vote share.
From Kerala:
E.T. Mohammed Basheer, IUML Candidate (Malappuram, Kerala)
Indian Union Muslim League candidate E.T. Mohammed Basheer secured this seat with a massive record victory with margin of 3,00118 votes and got overall 6,44,006 votes while defeating his rival CPI (Marxist) candidate V. Vaseef who got 3,43,888 votes and losses his election.
After Rahul Gandhi, the IUML victors in Malappuram and Ponnani claimed the second and their largest margins in the State.
Shafi Parambil, INC Candidate (Vadakara, Kerala)
Indian National Congress’s Shafi Parambil defeated his rival CPI (M) candidate KK Shailaja Teacher with a winning margin of 1,14,506 votes and got overall 5,57,528 votes. CPI candidate Shailaja got 4,43,022 votes and losses her election.
Shafi will soon resign from his state assembly membership, as he is representing Palakkad constituency from Kerala,
Dr. M.P. Abdussamad Samadani, IUML Candidate (Ponnani, Kerala)
Ponnani Lok Sabha Seat claimed by IMUL as third highest victory margin seat in the state. Dr. Samadani won this seat with a massive victory margin of 2,35,760 votes and secured overall 5,62,516 votes while defeating CPI (M) candidate K.S. Hamza who got 3,26,756 votes.
Ponnani is one of the 20 Lok Sabha constituencies in Kerala and is reserved for the SC category. It comprises seven assembly constituencies which are Tirurangadi, Tanur, Tirur, Kottakkal, Thavanur, Ponnani, and Thrithala. The constituency went to polls in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections on April 26 and the voter turnout was recorded at 69.37%.
Jammu Kashmir:
Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, JKNC Candidate (Srinagar)
Jammu & Kashmir National Conference’s Candidate Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehndi has won from Srinagar Lok Sabha seat with winning margin of 1,88,416 and got total 3,56,866 votes (52.8%) and defeated his rival PDP candidate Waheed Ur Rehman Para who got 1,68,450 (24.9%) votes and losses his election.
Agha Ruhullah Mehdi said, “A big thank you to the people of Srinagar, Pulwama, Ganderbal, Shopian and Budgam for this mandate and faith in me. I am humbled and I am aware of the responsibility that this mandate brings with it. You have spoken democratically and spoken against the decisions of August 5, 2019.”
Mian Altaf Ahmad, JKNC Candidate (Anantnag-Rajouri)
National Conference leader Mian Altaf Ahmed won from Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat while securing 5,21,836 votes and defeated his rival candidate former Chief Minister and PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti with a heavy margin of 2,81,794 votes. Mehbooba got 2,40,042 votes even not the half of the Mian Altaf’s total votes.
Abdul Rashid Shiekh (Jailed) Independent Candidate (Baramulla)
In Baramulla Parliamentary Constituency jailed candidate Abdul Rashid Shiekh contested Independent and defeated National Conference leader former chief minister of J&K Omar Abdullah with a heavy victory margin of more than 2 lakh votes. Rashid got 4,72,481 votes whereas Omar got only 2,68,339 votes.
Assam:
Rakibul Hussain, INC Candidate (Dhubri)
Indian National Congress Candidate Rakibul Hussain won his election with a very heavy margin victory securing 1471885 votes and defeated his rival candidate AIUDF’s Badruddin Ajmal who got 4,59,409 votes.
Hussain defeated Ajmal with a winning margin of 10,12,676 votes. This is a significant victory as the votes secured by Ajmal were less than half of the winning margin votes secured by Rakibul Hassain.
Bihar:
Mohammad Jawed, INC Candidate (Kishanganj)
In this Muslim majority Lok Sabha, Congress candidate Mohammad Jawed defeated the Janata Dal (United) “JDU” candidate Mujahid Alam by margin of 59,992 votes. Jawed secured overall 4,02,850 votes whereas, JDU candidate got 3,43,158 votes and was defeated by the Congress candidate.
Telangana:
Asaduddin Owaisi, AIMIM Candidate (Hyderabad)
All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen Chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who has been representing the Hyderabad Lok Sabha Constituency in Parliament since 2004, registered his fifth consecutive win from Hyderabad Constituency. Owaisi’s winning margin of 338,087 votes exceeds his rival BJP Candidate Madhavi Latha’s votes. Madhavi Latha in election tried to polarize of both Hindu and Muslim votes but defeated by AIMIN President. Owaisi secured total 66,1981 votes whereas Latha got only 32,3894 votes even lesser than Owaisi’s winning margin.
The AIMIM president won the election by a massive margin of 338,087 votes, which was more than his previous record.
Ladakh:
Mohmad Haneefa, Independent Candidate (Ladakh)
Haneefa an Independent candidate from Ladakh won the Lok Sabha election securing 65,269 votes and defeated his rival Congress candidate Tsering Namgyal who got only 37,397 votes. Haneefa secured his victory by a margin of 27,862 votes. There is only one Parliamentary Constituency in Ladakh.
Tamil Nadu:
Navaskani K, IUML Candidate (Ramanathapuram)
Indian Union Muslim League’s Candidate Navaskani K won from Ramanathapuram Constituency by securing 50,96,64 votes and defeated his rival independent candidate Panneerselvam with more than 1.6 Lakh margin of votes. This constituency has a Hindu Majority population and Navaskani’s victory under these circumstances points towards a less polarized polity in the state.
Lakshadweep:
Muhammed Hamdullah Sayeed, INC Candidate (Lakshadweep)
In the Lakshadweep Lok Sabha seat Congress candidate Hamdullah secured his victory and defeated his rival Nationalist Congress Party candidate Mohammed Faizal PP with a narrow margin of 2647 votes. Hamdullah secured a total 25,726 votes whereas Mohammed Faizal got 23,079 votes.
There is only 1 Lok Sabha seat in Lakshadweep UT that INC has secured.
Conclusion:
From among the winning Muslim candidates elected in 2024 Lok Sabha, a majority contested from the tickets of Indian National Congress, Samajwadi Party, All India Trinamool Congress, key members of India alliance.
JKUL, IUML, AIMIM had also fielded its Muslim candidates in the 2024 Lok Sabha election and secured six Lok Sabha seats in J&K, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana, whereas TMC got five Muslim MPs elected, the INC got six, the SP got four Muslim MPs now with a seat in the 19th Lok Sabha.
However, while Bahujan Samaj Party, highest fielded 35 Muslim candidates, none secured a victory with the community preferring the winning INDIA Alliance. Ignoring the fact that her Jatav (Dalit) base had also shifted significantly to the INC-SP combine, BSP Chief Mayawati was quick to single out the Muslim community for withdrawal of support. Muslims constitute 20 percent of the population of UP and Dalits around 21 percent of the population.
Last time round, Kunwar Danish Ali on BSP ticket in 2019 had been elected from the Amroha Lok Sabha Constituency. Few months later, Kunwar Danish Ali joined Indian National Congress. In 2024 Lok Sabha election congress fielded Danish from Amroha but failed to secure his seat and lost the election to the BJP candidate Kunwar Singh Tanwar.
Related:
Amethi: Locals claim police beat up Muslims at polling booths