Keywords
Minority
Political
Polarization
Caste
How to Cite
Abstract
Sweeping victory of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the two successive parliamentary elections without a single Muslim Member of Parliament (MP) signals a deeper representational crisis of Indian democracy. The highest number of Muslim MPs in the Lok Sabha was in 1980, when 49 legislators from the community were elected. Like in 2014, the BJP is the only winning party to not have a single Muslim MP in the 17thLokSabha. While democratic representation of Muslims has dropped in the Modi years, they have always had low representation in the Indian state. Scholars believe that anti-Muslim sentiment stoked by some in the BJP has led to fewer Muslim candidates outside the BJP. Fearing being tagged "anti-Hindu", the Indian National Congress (INC) and other parties are refraining from promoting Muslim candidates .
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