In Bihar, the missing Muslim legislator

One outcome of a polarised polity is that the community that becomes the focal point of polarisation runs the risk of losing out on electoral representation.

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This is self-evident in Bihar, where the percentage of Muslim MLAs has always been less than the community’s share in the state’s population. Muslims constitute 16.9% of Bihar’s population (2011 census and the 2023 caste survey), but the share of Muslim MLAs has swung between 6% and 12%. In absolute numbers, it peaked at 28 in the 1985 polls that the Congress won; the lowest was 16 in 2005, when the NDA won office for the first time. In 2020, the tally was 19, which may have influenced the seat distribution this time. Just 36 Muslim candidat