Only 23 Muslim MLAs in new UP Assembly

Lowest number the state has seen since 1991

With only 23 Muslims winning the Uttar Pradesh elections, the representation of the community, which constitutes around 20% of the electorate, will be the lowest in the new state Assembly since 1991.

In the 2012 Assembly polls, as many as 68 Muslims had made it to the House, which incidentally was their highest representation.

In the 1991 Assembly polls, which were held at a time when the Ram Temple movement was at its peak, only 23 Muslims had been able to win the polls in the state. There were 24 Muslim MLAs in the state Assembly in 1967.

In 2007, when BSP supremo Mayawati had stormed to power, riding on her social engineering formula, Muslim representation in the Assembly was 56.

Incidentally, no Muslim candidate had been able to make it to the Lok Sabha from Uttar Pradesh in the 2014 Parliamentary elections.

In the just-concluded election, the BSP had fielded 102 Muslim candidates, while the Congress-Samajwadi Party alliance had given tickets to 69 nominees from the community. The parties had hoped to garner votes of the community, especially in the Muslim-dominated districts in west and central Uttar Pradesh.

The Modi wave, however, dashed their hopes as the BJP scripted a stunning victory in the Muslim-dominated constituencies.

The party won around 100 seats in the west and Avadh regions, which have a sizeable Muslim population.

Political analysts attribute the defeat of Muslim candidates to a ‘division’ in their votes.
“The votes of the community were divided in the areas where they were in a position to decide the outcome of the polls,” said media analyst Masood Ahmed.

The saffron party had not given tickets to any Muslim candidate in this election.