FACT CHECK BY FACTLY: The 2024 Lok Sabha election results were declared on June 4, 2024, with the BJP emerging as the largest party, securing 240 seats. The BJP-led NDA coalition, with 293 seats, formed the government on June 9, 2024, and Narendra Modi was sworn in as Prime Minister for the third consecutive term. In this context, a post claiming that a total of 110 Muslim candidates were elected as Members of Parliament in the recent 2024 Lok Sabha elections is going viral on social media (here, here, and here). The post further asserts that the number of Muslim MPs has been increasing over the years. Through this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in this post.
The archived version of this post can be found here.
Claim: In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, 110 Muslims were elected as Members of Parliament.
Fact: In the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, only 24 Muslims were elected as MPs. According to data from the Election Commission of India's website, a total of 78 Muslim candidates contested in the elections from major parties, with 24 successfully securing seats in Parliament. Among these, 21 are affiliated with parties in the Opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc. The Congress party holds nine Muslim MP seats, followed by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) with five, the Samajwadi Party (SP) with four, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) with two, and the National Conference (NC) with one. Additionally, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) has one Muslim MP, while two independent candidates of Muslim faith also won seats. Notably, there are no Muslim MPs affiliated with the ruling NDA coalition. Therefore, the claim made in the post regarding 110 Muslim MPs is FALSE.
To fact-check the viral claim, we examined the 2024 Lok Sabha election results on the Election Commission of India’s website. On analyzing the results of all 543 parliamentary constituencies, it was revealed that only 24 Muslim candidates were elected as MPs in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Additionally, a total of 78 Muslim candidates contested from major parties. Among the 24 Muslim MPs, 21 belong to parties in the Opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc. The Congress holds nine Muslim MP seats, followed by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) with five, the Samajwadi Party (SP) with four, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) with two, and the National Conference (NC) with one. The AIMIM has one Muslim MP (Asaduddin Owaisi), and two independent Muslim candidates (Engineer Rashid from Baramulla and Mohammad Haneefa from Ladakh) were also elected. Notably, the ruling NDA coalition does not have any Muslim MPs. Below is a list of all 24 Muslim MPs in the 18th Lok Sabha.
During our search, we came across several news articles (here and here) reporting on the number of Muslims elected as MPs in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. According to these reports, only 24 Muslims were elected to the Lok Sabha this year, which is two fewer than in 2019. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, 26 Muslims were elected as MPs. These reports also highlight that Muslims now represent only 4.42% of the Lok Sabha's total strength, marking the second-lowest share of all time. The lowest Muslim representation in the Lok Sabha was observed in the 2014 polls, with 22 Muslim MPs. Following a record high of 49 Muslim MPs elected in 1980 (constituting 9.04% of the House) and 45 Muslim MPs (8.3% of the House) in 1984, the number of Muslim MPs in the Lok Sabha has never exceeded 40. Despite Muslims constituting approximately 14% of the overall population, as per the 2011 Census, their representation in the Lok Sabha has consistently remained below 5% in the last three general elections. The number of Muslim MPs elected in the 2009, 2014, 2019, and 2024 general elections were 28, 23, 26, and 24 respectively.
To sum it up, a total of 78 Muslim candidates contested in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from major parties, with 24 of them successfully elected as Members of Parliament (MPs).
(Disclaimer: This story was originally published by FACTLY, and republished by India TV as part of the Shakti Collective.)
