Muslims’ share of the Lok Sabha seats from Rajasthan is 0.7% since inception of general elections in 1952. So far, 317 MPs were elected in last 15 Lok Sabha polls and only two Muslim MPs were elected during the same period from the state. This is among the minimum in the country from any state where population of Muslims in above 5%, reported a national daily on March 23. Only, Caption Ayub Khan had won in 1984 and 1989 general elections from Juhunjhunu. So far, only Congress has maintained to offer one ticket to its traditional Muslim vote bank of 9% in Rajasthan in every election to consolidate Muslim voters in its fold.
In most of the elections, Muslim candidates, however, lost by a big margin even in Muslim-dominated districts. Explaining the reason behind the poor performance, Muzaffar Bharti of Maulana Azad Lok Kalyan Sansthan, said, “Muslim candidates were always fielded on seats which have negligible chances of winning polls.”