Muslim leaders demand representation in state LC

12 seats of the upper house fell vacant in March and are yet to be filled up

Muslim community leaders have demanded that the minority community should be given increased representation in the Maharashtra Legislative Council (LC), which presently has only one Muslim member in the 78-member house.

In March, 12 nominated seats of the LC fell vacant – six of these belong to the Congress and six to the NCP. The members, whose term expired, include two Muslim members M M Shaikh and Fauzia Khan. These 12 members have been directly nominated by the Governor and do not have to fight an electoral battle to enter the house.

Community leaders have claimed that the two major parties should give increased representation to Muslims in the council. “The minority community has stood behind the Congress-NCP. It is a known fact that it is increasingly difficult for a Muslim candidate to win an election as his acceptability in the constituency is low. In order to ensure proportional representation, the Congress-NCP should nominate a few Muslims, particularly from Marathwada where the community has a sizable presence,” Aurangabad-based educationist Sajjad Pasha said.

Besides from the two outgoing Muslim MLCs, out of the remaining 66 MLCs, there is only one Muslim representative Babajani Durrani from the NCP.

“In view of the performance of the Congress-NCP in the state in the recent Lok Sabha elections, it becomes imperative for them to give representation to the Muslim community which stood behind them. The representation of Muslims in the council is only 3.5 per cent. The parties need to address this disparity,” said Asif Shaikh, state secretary of the NCPs minority cell.

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