Patna: Bihar’s new Assembly will have only ten Muslim legislators, the lowest number in more than three decades. The outcome has raised questions about party strategies and community representation in a state where Muslims form 17.7 percent of the population, according to the 2022 to 2023 caste survey.
The ruling National Democratic Alliance secured 202 of the 243 seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party won 89 seats. The Janata Dal United won 85 seats and improved its 2020 performance. The Lok Janshakti Party Ram Vilas won 19 seats. The Opposition Mahagathbandhan won 35 seats. The Rashtriya Janata Dal accounted for 25 of these seats. The Congress won six seats and the CPI ML Liberation won two seats.
Both the NDA and the Mahagathbandhan fielded fewer Muslim candidates than in the previous Assembly election. The JD U fielded four Muslim candidates. Only Mohd Zama Khan won from Chainpur. The Lok Janshakti Party Ram Vilas fielded one Muslim candidate. The AIMIM won five of the 25 seats it contested. Md Tauseef Alam secured a victory from Bahadurganj with a margin of 28,726 votes. The RJD’s Asif Ahmad won from Bisfi. Osama Sahab won from Raghunathpur. Congress candidates Mohd Qamrul Hoda and Abidur Rehman secured wins in Kishanganj and Araria.
Muslim representation has fluctuated in the past thirty five years. It was 7.81 percent in 2010 with nineteen MLAs. It rose to 24 MLAs in 2015. It decreased to 19 in 2020. The outgoing Assembly had a similar share. The present fall marks a further decline and has prompted concern among community leaders and analysts tracking electoral trends in Bihar.
