Data | Eighteenth Lok Sabha has lowest share of Muslim MPs in six decades

Analysis of Muslim representation in the Lok Sabha over time, highlighting trends, party-wise distribution, and methodology used for identification.

The eighteenth Lok Sabha has the lowest share of Muslim MPs in six decades. Less than 5% of its members currently are Muslims despite people from the community forming over 15% of the country’s population. In total, there are currently 24 Muslim MPs (4.4%) in the Lok Sabha. Notably, the record low occurred despite a considerable spike in the share of Muslim MPs from the Indian National Congress, the second-biggest party in the current Lok Sabha. 

The party with the most members in 2024, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has no representatives from the Muslim community currently. In fact, the decline in the share of the Muslim MPs in the Lok Sabha, in the 1990s, coincided with the rise of the BJP, whose total MP tally crossed the 100 mark for the first time in the 10th Lok Sabha (1991-96).

Chart 1 | The chart shows the share of the Muslim MPs in India from the third to the eighteenth Lok Sabha. Figures in %

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Before the slump in the 1990s, the share of Muslims in the Lok Sabha peaked at 8.3% in the 1980s — 7th (1980-84) and 8th (1984-89) Lok Sabhas, when Congress was in power. Post the slump in the 1990s, the share again incrementally increased and grew close to 7% in the 14th Lok Sabha (UPA 1: 2004-09), coinciding with the dip in the BJP’s MP count in the 2000s. In the latest four Lok Sabhas (UPA 2: 4.8%, NDA 1: 4.7%, NDA 2: 5%, NDA 3: 4.4%), the share of Muslim MPs declined to 5% or less similar to the proportion recorded in the 1990s.

Chart 2 | The chart shows the share of the Muslim MPs in the BJP and the Congress from the third to the eighteenth Lok Sabha. Figures in %.

Currently, with seven Muslim MPs, the Congress is on the top of the party-wise list, which translates to 7% of the total Congress MPs. This is the first time since the eighth Lok Sabha (1984-89), thatthe share of Muslim MPs in the Congress crossed the 7% mark. The share peaked at around 7.5% in the 6th, 7th and 8th Lok Sabhas (1977-89). Since then, the share had sharply and consistently declined to reach 1.1% in the seventeenth Lok Sabha (2019-2024) as shown in Chart 2, only to increase again in the latest term.