The BJP has succeeded in suppressing Assam’s largest minority community after the 2023 state-specific delimitation. It is estimated that Muslim-dominated seats fell from 35/126 seats to 20. Similar measures were taken in Jammu and Kashmir, creating seven new seats which, according to the opposition, were “tailor-made” to help the BJP.
While the opposition calls it “legitimization manipulation”, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has publicly claimed that he carried out the delimitation to marginalize the influence of anti-BJP religious groups. During recent debates in Parliament, every opposition lawmaker pointed to the boundaries between Assam and J&K.In the storm over the Election Commission’s SIR exercise, the main accusation revolves around “disenfranchising” Muslims. The acrimony of these two measures – SIR and delimitation – has been heightened by the BJP’s militant campaign against Hindu polarization.Also Read| Three cheers for Assam, and more to come: BJP secures majority on its own for first timeWith minority populations in Bengal and Assam higher than the national average and community outreach a theme of mobilization, the BJP has received sweeping support and the ruling party will be encouraged to press ahead with its winning formula.This is likely to further test communities on the receiving end of the BJP as it will anger secular parties that cater to voters across religious divides. Often, this situation can lead to secular parties being outflanked by the right, fielding outfits specifically to represent minorities, as illustrated by the growth of AIMIM in the ‘Seemanchal’ district of Bihar. AIMIM is trying to play this card in many states and it remains to be seen what the Hyderabad party will do in UP in 2027.At the same time, the thorny situation may prompt the BJP’s rivals to tone down their overtly secular stance. A case in point is Assam, where 18 out of 19 MPs are likely to be Muslims. Such results can unsettle the best of people.
Apart from delimitation and SIR, political discussions are also obsessed with what some might call “conspiracy theories” – the BJP’s attempts to strengthen itself by dividing the Muslim vote, such as Humayun Kabir’s formation of a new party playing on the emotional religion card.Such conundrums and surprises will only be dealt with by minorities and political opponents, while the BJP intensifies its efforts to consolidate the majority bloc.