No Muslim representation in Modi’s new govt

NEW DELHI: India’s humongous populace comprises a fair share of Muslims, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s newly-elected government has no place for them, as not a single member of the community took oath in the grand oath-taking ceremony held in New Delhi on Sunday, At the ceremony, Modi was sworn in for his third term as India’s prime minister. But his government, which reportedly includes 30 federal ministers and 41 state ministers, does not have a single Muslim czar.

This is possibly due to the fact that no Muslims were elected from his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the recently-held general elections.

Since India’s independence, every newly elected council of ministers has had at least one Muslim representative. However, this is the first time that no Muslim MP has been elected.

The 18th Lok Sabha, also known as the lower parliament, has seen a drastic decrease in Muslim representation, as only 24 Muslims have been elected out of the total 543 members.