If the Muslims want to change their fate they will first have to develop political awareness. They vote emotionally by dividing in factions hence they are politically exploited and this will continue unless they change. If they don’t vote wisely the day is not far when they will become ‘politically untouchables’ for all political parties.
If we analyze the representation of Muslims from 1st Lok Sabha to 16th Lok Sabha we see that except in 1980, the number of Muslim MPs has dropped down with every passing term. In the first Lok Sabha elections in 1952, 11 Muslim MPs won the elections out of 42 Muslim candidates contested. In 1980 Muslim candidates won maximum 49 seats but that too out of 291 Muslim contestants.
In 16th Lok Sabha 23 Muslim candidates won the elections; after Tabassum won the seat from Kairana the number rose to 24. There are 14% Muslims in India but only 24 MPs are there in Lok Sabha and only one Muslim woman could reach the parliament.
Why the representation is so disappointing? It is due to the split of Muslim votes. During 1980 only one or two Muslim candidates would contest. Now 5 to 7 Muslim candidates contest on one seat thus splitting the Muslim votes. In UP elections also Muslim votes were split between regional and national parties which directly benefited BJP.
In order to make themselves politically relevant Muslims need to float a national party of their own. Firstly they need to be politically awake. They should know that they cannot fight politically on their own unless they take Dalits SCs STs BCs along with them. Apart from that Muslims should consolidate their votes and choose their representative wisely.