Why has the number of Muslim MLAs decreased in the newly elected Bengal Assembly? The simple answer is no other political party opened its account in the TMC wave. That is why whatever number stands presently, it is from the Trinamool Congress that got elected. Had there been elected legislatures from Congress, Left and AIMIM, the tally would have been different. But unluckily, it was not to be in the recent assembly polls.
While there were as many as 59 Muslim legislators in the outgoing assembly, the present total stands at only 44. The published figures of the outgoing assembly are 32 legislators from the TMC, 18 from the Congress and nine from the Left, respectively. The change has lessened the number, but it remains quite interesting.
Despite the lower tally, most of the elected legislators are from Mamata’s Party. As 15 legislators have been lessened in this year’s tally of 44, the TMC has got 43 MLAs elected from its strong side. Only one MLA was chosen from another political party called the ISF.
Some well-known Muslim MLAs in the new Assembly are Farhad Hakim, Javed Khan, Idris Ali, Humayun Kabir, Shaukat Molla, Siddiqullah Chowdhary and the ISFs Naushad Siddiqui.
According to the 2011 Census of India, West Bengal has over 24.6 million Muslims who form 27.01% of the state’s population. But they are said to constitute about 30% of West Bengal’s population and their votes are conclusive in 100–110 of the 294 assembly seats. They form the majority mostly in the districts of Kolkata, Murshidabad, Malda and North and South Dinajpur.