Chennai: Muslim outfits in Tamil Nadu have urged the political parties to field more Muslim candidates in the 2026 assembly elections, saying the community’s share in the legislature was disproportionate to its population.Organisations like Manithaneya Makkal Katchi, Indian Union Muslim League, Manithaneya Jananayaga Katchi and Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamaath as well as Muslim leaders from other parties say that though Muslims make up about six per cent of the state’s population, the number of MLAs from the community accounts for less than three percent in the assembly.IUML MP Kani K Navas from Ramanathapuram said major political parties should allocate at least 14–15 assembly seats to Muslim candidates. Data shows Muslims, who comprised about 5.9 per cent of Tamil Nadu’s population in the 2011 census, remained under-represented in successive assemblies. Only seven Muslim MLAs were elected in 2021, with two of them – S M Nasar and K S Gingee Masthan becoming ministers. There were only five Muslim MLAs in 2016 – 21 term and six in 2011 – 16. The representation in parliamentary election was even less. Al Ameen, state secretary of the Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamaath, said Sachar and Ranganath Misra committees have documented how Muslim representation was low in politics.The Muslim outfits feel that major parties like DMK and AIADMK are reluctant to field Muslim candidates. They have the practice of allocating certain number of seats to Muslim outfits and feel content instead of fielding Muslim candidates on their own, said a senior functionary of an outfit. Another functionary said some AIADMK leaders had even argued during internal discussions in AIADMK in 2021 against fielding Muslim candidates, rationalising that `Muslims would anyway vote for DMK.’ Aloor Sha Navas, VCK MLA from Nagapptinam, blamed the BJP for the situation. The “social engineering” model advanced by the BJP had yielded results to the party in several places, creating an impression that parties could wn election even without minority votes. “Nevertheless, the bitter truth is that no party provided the rightful representation due to Muslims – even DMK and Congress,” he said. Al Ameen said Muslim voters could tilt the balance in an estimated 25–30 constituencies (Ramanathapuram, Gudalur, Vellore, Aranthangi and Kadayanallur). “They deserve a bigger share of tickets and leadership roles. This would strengthen democratic set up,” he said.
