Of the 6.11-crore population in Karnataka as per the 2011 census, Muslims are estimated to account for more than 12.5 per cent. However, the 13th Karnataka Assembly has nine members belonging to the Muslim community, while it would have to be 28 to reflect the community’s population.
The poor representation of Muslims in the 224-member Legislative Assembly becomes evident when seen against the claims and counter claims being made by both the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) over extending political reservation to the community in local bodies, in the run up to the coming Assembly elections.
Historically, the community members have never had representation in the State Legislative Assembly corresponding to their population.
Quazi Arshed Ali, former MLC, in an analysis in Karnataka Muslims and Electoral Politics , shows that Muslim representation in the Legislative Assembly has been mostly in single digits ever since the first Assembly elections in 1952.
The highest number of Muslims ever to have made it to the State Assembly is 17 in 1982-83. Though 16 Muslims were elected to the Assembly in 1978, the number went up by one when Mohsin Kamal of the Congress was elected in the byelection from Bidar constituency in 1982.
Speaking to The Hindu , Mr. Ali sought to contrast the poor representation of Muslims with “over representation” of certain powerful communities such as Lingayat and Vokkaliga, which have nearly 60 and nearly 50 members, respectively, in the present Assembly. He wondered why reservation for Muslims could not be introduced in State Assemblies and the Lok Sabha.
Muslims are fielded by mainstream political parties only in constituencies where there is a concentration of Muslim voters, according to Mr. Ali.
“Often, secular parties such as the JD(S) and the Congress field a Muslim in the same constituency, leading to a split of the community’s votes, benefiting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),” Mr. Ali said.
Political analyst and academic Sandeep Shastri pointed out that the existing reservation for Muslims in panchayat bodies in the State came about as part of the reservation for other backward classes (OBC). Any move to extend political reservation to a community on religious grounds was likely to create legal issues, he said.
One possible solution for Muslims to get representation in the State Assembly in proportional to their numerical strength is by pressuring political parties to field more candidates from the community, Dr. Shastri said.
“No political party ever felt it necessary to give ticket to Muslims in proportion to their population,” Mr. Ali said, and pointed out that most of the Muslims who had entered the State Assembly so far had been from the Congress. Yet, the party did not do justice to Muslims, Mr. Ali said. The highest number of Muslim candidates the Congress ever fielded in the State Assembly elections was 18 in 1999, and 11 of them got elected.
