MUSLIM ELECTORAL BEHAVIOUR IN BIPOLAR PARTY COMPETITION: A STUDY OF LOK SABHA ELECTIONS IN RAJASTHAN AND GUJARAT

Abstract

The popular discussions on Muslim politics in post independent India have largely revolved around two themes: marginalisation of the community measured in terms of socioeconomic status and political representation, and of how Muslims participate in electoral arena. While there is systemic evidence on the socio-economic status and political under-representation of Muslims, the lack of ample evidence on how Muslims participate in electoral arena has given rise to multiple myths. One such myth has been that Muslims act as cohesive political unit in politics who vote en bloc and are treated by different political parties as vote banks. It is in this backdrop an attempt will be made in this chapter to analyse with empirical evidence the voting preferences of Muslims in bipolar contexts such as Rajasthan and Gujarat in order to find out how the dynamics of Muslim vote plays out in such contests.