Nine constituencies in the backward state have more than 20 percent Muslim population.
By Anmol Pritam
Between master strokes and criticism, the last 10 years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government have been marked by religious polarisation and increasing Islamophobia.
A spate of communal incidents have come to define the decade: From a Muslim MP being subjected to communal slur in the house to mob lynchings, riots, rise of anti-Muslim Hindutva pop, and increasing violence against Muslims in the name of “gau raksha”, or cow protection.
The community, which makes up about 20 crore Indians and was once considered a kingmaker, has been recording its lowest electoral representation in the Modi era. In 2014, a total of 23 Muslim MPs were elected to the Lok Sabha, but not even one from the BJP. This number marginally improved to 25 after the 2019 polls, still lower than the period before Modi.
Bihar, one of the most backward states in India, comprises 17.7 percent Muslims and 81.99 percent Hindus. Out of the state’s 40 Lok Sabha seats, 31 have Hindu population of more than 40 percent and nine have more than 20 percent people from the Muslim community. The latter are mainly divided into three castes: Surajpuri, Shershahbadi and Kulhaiya.
In the 2019 polls, the NDA alliance won all the Hindu-dominated seats and eight out of nine Muslim-dominated constituencies. The RJD-Congress alliance had won only one seat, Kishanganj.
This story was originally published in newslaundry.com. Read the full story here.