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Malegaon: The 15th Lok Sabha that would be formally
constituted any moment in the ensuing week will have a meager 28
Muslim MPs, far less than needed if compared with the percentage of
their population, 13.4 percent according to the 2001 census.
The erstwhile Parliament had a total
of 34 Muslim MPS from all over the country. However, though the
political parties, on more than one occasion, expressed their
concern over the declining number of Muslim MPs, they failed in
evolving a concrete strategy for electing eligible and winnable
Muslim candidates in this election also.
The result is on the expected lines.
The election that gave a thumping victory to the United Progressive
Alliance (UPA) and other secular parties led by Congress, and that
could have also sent at least few more Muslim MPs, failed in
electing the desired number of Muslim MPs. Of the total 780 Muslim
candidates who contested the election, most of them being
independents, but only 28 of them succeeded in making it to the new
parliament.
In Maharashtra, though the community
leaders were asking from the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party
(NCP) high command to nominate five Muslim candidates from the
constituencies with good Muslim populations, they did not pay any
heed to this legitimate demand. They however nominated Abdul Rehman
Antulay and Azam Pansare, respectively from Congress and NCP in the
general election. Both of them failed in winning the elections
resulting in a zero Muslim representation from Maharashtra. While
Abdul Rehman Antulay was a Minister in the last cabinet, Azam
Pansare, a popular NCP leader in the Pune-Pimpri region is
instrumental in strengthening the party in that region.
Abu Asim Azmi, the Samajwadi Party
(SP) Maharashtra president also failed in garnering the sufficient
votes in his favour to win the election. The results in Aurangabad
and Malegaon, two Muslim dominated towns in Maharashtra are more
worrisome. In these two towns not only that the Muslim candidates in
the fray failed in winning the elections, they also ensured the
victory of the candidates from the Saffron alliance.
Likewise in Gujarat, which has not
sent a single Muslim MP since last 25 years, Muslims including Ahmed
Patel, the powerful political advisor to the Congress President
Sonia Gandhi, worked hard to ensure victory of Congress candidate Aziz Tankarvi from Bharuch
in this election. But he too failed in winning the election. Tankarvi is editor of
Gujarati daily 'Gujarat Today' which is said to be very popular among
the Muslim masses in
Gujarat.
Karnataka too that had few regular
Muslim faces like CK Jaffer Shareif in its list of MPs, this time
could not send a single Muslim MP from the state.
Like Maharashtra, Karnataka and
Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Orissa are the other major
states that despite having a sizeable number of Muslim population
failed in sending any single Muslim MP from the state.
Uttar Pradesh (UP) on the other hand
has sent the maximum, 7 Muslim MPs. West Bengal (WB) though follows
with a tally of 6 Muslim MPs, it too had a shock as Mohd Salim, the
CPM veteran lost by a huge number of votes.
Assam however has a surprise, where
Badruddin Ajmal Qasmi led Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF)
performed beyond expectations in the election and ensured its debut
to the Parliament. AUDF is sending its president Badruddin Ajmal
Qasmi as its MP in the 15th Lok Sabha.
It is shocking to note that the
leaders like Abdul Rehman Antulay of Congress, Mohd Salim of CPM,
Azam Pansare of NCP and Aziz Tankarvi of Congress, who claim to have
worked for years to strengthen their parent parties in their
respective regions could not win their own elections. More than the
political parties, the results are an eye-opener for the Muslim
community in India.
List of the Muslim MPs in the New
Parliament:
1. Asadudduin
Owaisee, Majlise Ittehad ul Muslimin (MIM), Hyderabad, Andhra
Pradesh
2. Badruddin
Ajmal Qasmi, Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF), Dhubri, Assam
3. Ismail Husain,
Congress, Barpeeta, Assam
4. Mohd Israrul
Haque Qasmi, Congress, Kishan Ganj, Bihar
5. Manazir Husain,
Janata Dal (United), Begum Sarai, Bihar
6. Shahnawaz
Husain, Bharti Janata Party (BJP), Bhagulpur, Bihar
7. Sharifuddin
Sharique, National Conference (NC), Baramula, Jammu Kashmir
8. Faruque
Abdullah, National Conference (NC), Srinagar, Jammu Kashmir
9. Peer Mohd
Husain, National Conference (NC), Anantnaag, Jammu Kashmir
10. Hasan Khan,
Independent, Laddakh, Jammu Kashmir
11. E. Ahmad, Muslim
League, Mullapuram, Kerala
12. ET Mohd Basheer,
Muslim League, Punani, Kerala
13. Abdul Rehman, DMK,
Vellur, Tamil Nadu
14. Harun Rasheed JM,
Congress, Thaini, Tamil Nadu
15. Tabassum Begum,
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Kairana, Uttar Pradesh
16. Qadir Rana, Bahujan
Samaj Party (BSP), Muzaffar Nagar, Uttar Pradesh
17. Mohd Azharuddin, Congress,
Muradabad, Uttar Pradesh
18. Shafiqur Rehman Berque, Bahujan
Samaj Party (BSP), Sumbhal, Uttar Pradesh
19. Zafar Ali Naqwi, Congress, Khairi,
Uttar Pradesh
20. Qaiser Jahan, Bahujan Samaj Party
(BSP), Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh
21. Salman Khurshid, Congress,
Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh
22. Mausam Noor, Congress, Malda-North,
West Bengal
23. Hashim Khan Choudhary, Congress,
Malda, West Bengal
24. Ab Mannan Husain, Congress,
Murshedabad, West Bengal
25. Noorul Islam, Trinamul Congress,
Bashirhut, West Bengal
26. Sultan Ahmad, Trinamul Congress,
Aluberia, West Bengal
27. Shaikh Sadiqul Haque, CPM, Berdwan,
West Bengal
28. Mohd Hamdullah Saeed, Congress,
Lakshdeep
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