Underrepresentation of Muslim in various segments of government bodies including the legislation is a common debatable issue across the country. Political representation gets more attraction on the eve of election at national or state level. Legitimate representation for Muslim in parliament is 73 according to their population - 13% in total population - but such ideal representation has never been achieved. Best representation was in 1980 election when 49 Muslim members – 9.3% in total 542 seats – elected in parliament. In the sixteenth Lok Sabha 2014, it reached to the historical lowest level with only 23 members - 4.2% in total 543 members. Similar position exists at state assemblies and local bodies.
Delhi election is going to be held on 7th February 2015 and will have a larger impact on future politics of the country. Muslim in Delhi constitutes 12% of total state population, their legitimate representation according to population ratio is 8 seats in assembly but it was restricted to five Muslim representatives in last two elections. There are around 10 assembly constituencies in Delhi which have more than 20% Muslim oncentration while Seelampur, Matia Mahal, Okhla and Ballimaran have around or more than 50% Muslim in total population. Result of the last two assembly elections in these 10 seats are shown in the table given below:
Winner, Runner and Winning Margin in Muslim Concentrated Constituencies (Above 20%) in Delhi (Assembly Election 2008 & 2013)
| ||||||||||
AC Name
|
Year
|
Winner
|
Winner Candidate Name
|
Winner Votes
|
Winner Votes %
|
Runner
|
Runner Candidate Name
|
Runner Vote
|
Runner Vote %
|
Margin of votes
|
Seelampur
|
2008
|
INC
|
Chaudhary Mateen Ahmad
|
47820
|
54.65
|
BJP
|
Sita Ram Gupta
|
21546
|
24.62
|
26274
|
2013
|
INC
|
Chaudhary Mateen Ahmad
|
46452
|
46.52
|
BJP
|
Kaushal Kumar Mishra
|
24724
|
24.76
|
21728
| |
Matia Mahal
|
2008
|
LJP
|
Shoaib Iqbal
|
25474
|
39.56
|
INC
|
Mehmood Zia
|
17870
|
27.75
|
7604
|
2013
|
JD(U)
|
Shoaib Iqbal
|
22732
|
31.72
|
INC
|
Mirza Javed Ali
|
19841
|
27.68
|
2891
| |
Okhla
|
2008
|
INC
|
Parvez Hashmi
|
29303
|
28.53
|
RJD
|
Asif Mohd.Khan
|
28762
|
28.00
|
541
|
2013
|
INC
|
Asif Mohd Khan
|
50004
|
36.34
|
AAP
|
Irfanullah Khan
|
23459
|
17.05
|
26545
| |
Ballimaran
|
2008
|
INC
|
Haroon Yasuf
|
34660
|
42.08
|
BJP
|
Moti Lal Sodhi
|
28423
|
34.51
|
6237
|
2013
|
INC
|
Haroon Yusuf
|
32105
|
36.18
|
BJP
|
Moti Lal Sodhi
|
24012
|
27.06
|
8093
| |
Babarpur
|
2008
|
BJP
|
Naresh Gaur
|
31954
|
35.1
|
BSP
|
Hazi Dilshad Ali
|
28128
|
30.90
|
3826
|
2013
|
BJP
|
Naresh Gaur
|
34180
|
29.73
|
INC
|
Zakir Khan
|
29673
|
25.81
|
4507
| |
Mustafabad
|
2008
|
INC
|
Hasan Ahmed
|
39838
|
40.7
|
BJP
|
Yogender Kumar Sharma
|
38859
|
39.69
|
979
|
2013
|
INC
|
Hasan Ahmed
|
56250
|
38.24
|
BJP
|
Jagdish Pradhan
|
54354
|
36.95
|
1896
| |
Chandni Chowk
|
2008
|
INC
|
Parlad Singh Sawhney
|
28207
|
45.61
|
BJP
|
Praveen Khandelwal
|
20188
|
32.64
|
8019
|
2013
|
INC
|
Parlad Singh Sawhney
|
26335
|
37.77
|
BJP
|
Suman Kumar Gupta
|
18092
|
25.95
|
8243
| |
Seemapuri (SC)
|
2008
|
INC
|
Veer Singh Dhingan
|
43864
|
49.13
|
BJP
|
Chandra Pal Singh
|
24604
|
27.56
|
19260
|
2013
|
AAP
|
Dharmender Singh
|
43199
|
37.76
|
INC
|
Veer Singh Dhingan
|
31223
|
27.29
|
11976
| |
Sangam Vihar
|
2008
|
BJP
|
Dr. S.C.L.Gupta
|
20332
|
27.37
|
INC
|
Amod Kumar Kanth
|
16743
|
22.54
|
3589
|
2013
|
AAP
|
Dinesh Mohaniya
|
24851
|
27.87
|
BJP
|
Shiv Charan Lal Gupta
|
24074
|
27.00
|
777
| |
Gandhi Nagar
|
2008
|
INC
|
Arvinder Singh Lovely
|
59795
|
64.25
|
BJP
|
Kamal Kumar Jain
|
27870
|
29.94
|
31925
|
2013
|
INC
|
Arvinder Singh Lovely
|
48897
|
48.47
|
BJP
|
Ramesh Chand Jain
|
31936
|
31.66
|
16961
| |
Representation links with the level of seriousness in participation of electioneering process. Muslim concentrated areas generally witnessed the below average polling percentage. Besides the numeric representation, improved turnout would be helpful in electing of qualitative representation among the community or outside of community. A non-community member could be true representative if taking the part in resolving the community problem while a Muslim is not true representative if not serious about his constituency.
With the analysis of these ten Muslim concentrated constituencies in Delhi, it is also clear that polling percentage in most of constituencies is below or close to the state average. Okhla, largely Muslim concentrated and an area widely known for the offices of Muslim organizations, accounted the lowest polling percentage in the last two elections. While the number of contesting candidates and parties are always above the state average in these ACs.
To evaluate the polling percentage trend during the last two elections in the constituencies having substantial Muslim population (around 20% or above in total population of an AC) in Delhi, the given table is generated to show the difference from average poll percentage of state and ratio on number of candidates contesting the elections:
Polling Percentage in Muslim Concentrated Constituencies (Above 20%) in Delhi (Assembly Election 2008 & 2013 and Parliamentary Election 2014)
| |||||
AC
|
Year
|
electoral
|
voters
|
poll%
|
candidates
|
Chandni Chowk
|
2008
|
107953
|
61845
|
57.29
|
16
|
2013
|
106559
|
69771
|
65.48
|
14
| |
2014
|
110878
|
72202
|
65.12
| ||
Matia Mahal
|
2008
|
114178
|
64390
|
56.39
|
19
|
2013
|
109130
|
71780
|
65.77
|
19
| |
2014
|
112911
|
74241
|
65.75
| ||
Ballimaran
|
2008
|
138182
|
82365
|
59.61
|
13
|
2013
|
131574
|
88771
|
67.47
|
17
| |
2014
|
137086
|
88738
|
64.73
| ||
Sangam Vihar
|
2008
|
144463
|
74289
|
51.42
|
16
|
2013
|
137295
|
89167
|
64.95
|
17
| |
2014
|
149943
|
96084
|
64.08
| ||
Okhla
|
2008
|
209643
|
102731
|
49.00
|
19
|
2013
|
235966
|
137632
|
58.33
|
18
| |
2014
|
256737
|
145864
|
56.81
| ||
Gandhi Nagar
|
2008
|
146577
|
93078
|
63.50
|
9
|
2013
|
153167
|
100883
|
65.86
|
13
| |
2014
|
162055
|
104324
|
64.38
| ||
Seemapuri
|
2008
|
143184
|
89309
|
62.37
|
12
|
2013
|
157639
|
114486
|
72.63
|
11
| |
2014
|
165496
|
118846
|
71.81
| ||
Seelam Pur
|
2008
|
147481
|
87499
|
59.33
|
15
|
2013
|
145781
|
99864
|
68.50
|
8
| |
2014
|
149244
|
101493
|
68.00
| ||
Babarpur
|
2008
|
152258
|
91057
|
59.80
|
13
|
2013
|
174496
|
114978
|
65.89
|
11
| |
2014
|
182022
|
115603
|
63.51
| ||
Mustafabad
|
2008
|
168508
|
97901
|
58.10
|
17
|
2013
|
204982
|
147097
|
71.76
|
13
| |
2014
|
218659
|
146337
|
66.92
| ||
State Average
|
2008
|
57.60
|
12
| ||
2013
|
66.02
|
12
| |||
2014
|
65.00
| ||||
This table clearly indicates that poll percentage in most of constituencies is below or close to the average which is a reason for low and inadequate representation. For the sake of ideal and qualitative representation, Muslim should participate in electioneering process without keeping any negative approach. A successful ideal democracy depends upon the inclusiveness of all sections of society in governance.
Published on 31.01.2015 at India Tomorrow. Net
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