Do we need a Muslim party?

Shaik Ahmed Ali

"Delimitation makes Muslims a force." This was the headline of a leading English daily of Hyderabad which claimed that the delimitation process has made Muslims a dominant force in 15 Lok Sabha seats of the State and a deciding factor in 40 assembly constituencies.


There were several other media reports explaining how the delimitation of Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies may benefit the Muslim community in Andhra Pradesh. Such stories, of course, increased the enthusiasm among the Muslim voters. Many political pundits predicted that 2009 general elections would see an increase in the number of Muslim representatives in the elected bodies. The election process began and ended. But as always, Muslims remained where they were five years ago. The number of Muslim MLAs remained 11 while the representation in the Lok Sabha got reduced from two in 2004 to only one now.


This time major parties nominated very few Muslims as their candidates for both the Assembly and Lok Sabha. This was not unusual. Muslim constitutes over 10 per cent of the state's total population and there should be at least 29 Muslim candidates from each party, if it has to be proportionate to their population. But no party considers this fact citing secularism as the reason. Surprisingly, this rule is applied only for the Muslims. Scheduled Castes and Tribes already have political reservation and the parties nominate adequate number of candidates from the Backward Classes and OBCs. But they avoid giving tickets to Muslims.


A basic analysis of general elections since 1952 shows that all parties together have ensured that the political representation of Muslims either remain static or do not cross a specific figure, both in the State Assembly and the Lok Sabha.


Since 1952, the Congress always nominated 15 or less candidates in all 13 assembly elections. The TDP was much worse in giving tickets to Muslims and since 1984 it nominated less than 10 Muslims in all the elections. The CPI and CPM never fielded more than one Muslim candidate in all the elections. This time too, all major parties implemented the same policy. For assembly elections, the Congress nominated 11 Muslims; TDP just 7 and TRS-3 and the CPI and CPM fielded one Muslim each. For a change, this time BJP fielded four Muslims. But the Praja Rajyam tried to change the trend by nominating 14 Muslims for the Assembly.


Despite this, of 23 districts, there was not a single Muslim candidate representing any major party in seven districts of Adilabad, Ranga Reddy, Warangal, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, East Godavari and West Godavari. Further, nine districts had only one Muslim candidate representing a major political party.

The parties adopted a similar approach for the Lok Sabha. Of 569 candidates who contested for 42 Lok Sabha seats in the State, only 50 were Muslims. Of them, 22 contested as independents. While 10 seats were reserved for SC/STs, there was no Muslim candidate in 12 out of 32 general Lok Sabha seats in the State. Therefore, Muslims contested from only 20 Lok Sabha constituencies.


The prominent political parties -- Congress, TDP, TRS and Praja Rajyam together fielded only 11 Muslim candidates. While Congress fielded only one Muslim candidate, the TRS and the TDP fielded two Muslims each. The Praja Rajyam gave Lok Sabha tickets to six Muslims. But a majority of their candidates were either new to the electoral politics or lacked the potential to win the elections. As a result, no body from these parties got elected to the Lok Sabha.


On the other side, all major parties stood for a particular community, though covertly. The Congress for Reddys, TDP for Kammas, Praja Rajyam for Kapus and TRS for Velamas. The Congress gave tickets to 88 Reddys, compared to 66 by the Grand Alliance of TDP, TRS & Left Parties and 42 by the Praja Rajyam. The Grand Alliance nominated 46 Kammas, as against 16 by the Congress and 11 by the Praja Rajyam as their candidates. The Praja Rajyam selected 37 Kapus, as against 14 by the Congress and only eight by the Grand Alliance.


This insufficient nomination would have almost finished the Muslim representation in the elected bodies. But the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen saved the situation. Though the MIM contested from only one Lok Sabha and 8 assembly segments in Hyderabad, except from one assembly segment, it won all the seats. Unlike past elections, this time MIM had tough opposition from its rivals led by Editor of Siasat Daily Zahed Ali Khan who contested as TDP candidate. The TDP, Left Parties and the Majlis Bachao Tehreek jointly tried to capture the MIM's citadel, but failed. MIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi not only retained his seat, but increased the MIM's tally in assembly from 5 in 2004 to 7 this time.


MIM's victory indicates that the Muslim community believes in a Muslim party. The MIM has been winning the elections since 1960. The party won 19 out of 30 seats in the municipal corporation in 1960. Its leader Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi got elected to the assembly for the first time in 1962. The party continuously retained the seat in future elections. Salahuddin Owaisi got elected to the Lok Sabha from Hyderabad in 1984 and the party is retaining the seat for the last 25 years. In subsequent elections, the MIM increased its representation to 5 MLAs. Except for 1994, when the Majlis won only one assembly seat, it never lost any election.


On the other side, the Muslim MLAs belonging to other parties were never sure of their victory. Their parties either did not re-nominate them or they lost elections. For instance, despite the Congress sweeping the polls, both the Muslim ministers of Congress -- Mohammad Ali Shabbir and Md. Fareeduddin -- lost the election this time. Interestingly both were elected in 2004 from the seats - Kamareddy and Zahirabad - where the Muslim population was below 10 per cent. But this time Shabbir Ali lost from Kamareddy apparently due to polarisation of voters. Fareeduddin's constituency Zahirabad became a reserved constituency and therefore, he was shifted to Amberpet seat in Hyderabad. His candidature apparently polarised the voters resulting in the victory of BJP candidate Kishan Reddy. This time three candidates of Congress Syed Ahmedullah from Cuddapah, M.S.Basha from Madanapalli and Mastan Vali from Guntur got elected. TDP's candidate Abdul Ghani too got elected from Madanapally. All these constituencies have a sizeable number of Muslim voters.


The 2009 elections in Andhra Pradesh have shown that Muslims failed to take any advantage of delimitation. At one side, the political parties failed them, on the other, the trend of not voting for candidates belonging to other castes or religion, ensured that less number of Muslims enter the legislative assembly and parliament. In these circumstances, the MIM was destined to gain. When all other parties are trying to promote their castes, I think, it was not wrong if the MIM talks about the Muslims.


The election statistics since 1952 show that the political parties were never serious about nominating Muslim candidates. Besides constantly changing the candidates or their constituencies, the Congress kept on reducing the number of Muslim nominees. TDP showed very little interest in nominating Muslim candidates and fielded only two candidates for Lok Sabha -- Lal Jaan Basha and Yousuf Ali in the last 26 years of its formation.


The major political parties want the Muslims to vote for them. But they don't want the largest minority group to become a political power. Six per cent Reddys or the five per cent Kammas are sending more than 50 candidates to the state assembly for the last several decades, but the parties ensured that the number of Muslims MLAs remain below 15. Though the polarisation of voters is a dangerous trend, but it will at least ensure that economically backward communities like the Muslims get adequate representation in the legislative bodies. So far, the MIM has proved that Muslim can not only win, but also retain seats. When other parties are not serious about the political empowerment of Muslims, then I think, in a democratic set-up a Muslim party is the only answer to the continued political discrimination against the community.