Hyderabad: The results of five state assembly elections that were announced by the Election Commission on Sunday revealed that Muslim candidates in the contest barely showed any significant rise in tally.
Only Assam and Kerala registered a slight rise in the number of Muslims elected to the assembly, while it went down in West Bengal. Tamil Nadu and Puducherry showed no improvement in the trend.
Of those Muslims who won, none represent the Hindu nationalist, Centre-ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
West Bengal
In West Bengal, 42 Muslim MLAs have been elected out of 292 newly elected members, according to data released by the election commission after counting of votes on Sunday.
Of the 42, 41 belong to Mamata Banerjee’s All India Trinamool Congress (AITMC). The non-TMC Muslim MLA-elect is Md. Naswad Siddique, who won Bhangar constituency on Rashtriya Secular Majlis Party (RSMP) ticket.
Among the winners is Chandannagar police commissioner Humayun Kabir who quit his police job and joined politics a few months before the election. Kabir hit the headlines after ordering the arrest of three BJP workers as “Goli Maro…(shoot the traitors)” slogans were raised at a roadshow in January 2021.
However, this number is less compared to the previous election, when as many as 56 Muslims were elected into the legislative assembly in 2016, and 59 of them were voted to power in 2011.
Assam
Muslim candidates in Assam improved tally to 31, compared to previous elections figure of 29 in 2016 assembly elections and 28 in 2011. This is the second-highest number ever after the 33 who were elected in the controversial 1983 elections held during the peak of the Assam Agitation.
Of the 31 Muslim candidates, 16 were fielded by the Congress and 15 by The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF). The two parties won 29 and 16 seats, respectively, both improving upon their 2016 performance by three seats each.
BJP too fielded eight Muslim candidates, but all of them lost.
Kerala
The newly-elected 140-member Kerala Assembly will have a total of 32 Muslim MLAs, according to the Election Commission data released after counting of votes Sunday.
As many as 15 Muslim MLAs elected to the Kerala house are from Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). Of the rest, three are from Congress, nine from the CPI-M, one each from Indian National League and National Secular Conference, and three others are independents.
In 2016, the Kerala assembly had a total of 29 Muslim MLAs.
Tamil Nadu, Puducherry
The Tamil-speaking lands of Tamil Nadu and union territory Puducherry maintained its tally of Muslim MLA-elects in the assembly, compared to their respective previous general elections. While 5 Muslims are elected from Tamil Nadu, only one came back to power in Puducherry.
AIMIM fails to win single seat
The All India Majilis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) failed to open its account in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu where the party has fielded seven and three candidates respectively.
In West Bengal, the Asaduddin Owaisi-led party contested the elections alone after being snubbed by Indian Secular Front’s Abbas Siddiqui, who joined the Left-Congress alliance. AIMIM had put candidates in seven assembly seats of Itahar, Jalangi, Sagardighi, Bharatpur, Malatipur, Ratua and Asansol Uttar.
In Tamil Nadu, AIMIM had joined hands with the TTV Dhinakaran-led AMMK and contested from Vaniyambadi, Krishnagiri and Sankarapuram assembly constituencies.