Online posts are circulating that falsely claim that 110 Muslim members were elected to the Indian Lower House in the recent elections.
Claim
As a result of the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, there are 110 Muslim members in the National Assembly, which is 20% of the total number of members.
An archived version of the Tweets can be found here.
fact
Newschecker ran a keyword search for “Muslim MPs Indian Lok Sabha” and found multiple news reports stating that only 24 Muslims were elected to the Indian Lok Sabha this year, two fewer than in 2019. According to the reports, 78 Muslims, including independents, ran in this election, compared to 115 Muslim candidates in 2019. No reports were found stating that 110 Muslim MPs have been elected across India for the 2024 general election.
“Muslims currently hold just 4.42% of the total seats in the Indian Lok Sabha, the second lowest percentage ever. While a record high of 49 Muslim MPs (9.04% of the Lok Sabha) was elected in 1980 and 45 Muslim MPs (8.3% of the Lok Sabha) in 1984, the number of Muslims in the Indian Lok Sabha has never exceeded 40,” reported the Indian Express on June 8, 2024. A similar report from ABP News can be found here.
“The NDA party has no Muslim MPs, while the Indian Union has 7.9 percent Muslim MPs. Similarly, the NDA has no Christian MPs, while the Indian Union has 3.5 percent Christian MPs. The NDA has no Sikh MPs, while the Indian Union has 5 percent Sikh MPs… Overall, 24 Muslim MPs have been elected to the Indian Lok Sabha this time,” reads a Mint report dated June 7, 2024. A similar print version of the report can be found here, which further confirms that there are 24 Muslim MPs elected to the Indian Lok Sabha and not the 110 as claimed.
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Result: False
(This article was originally published on Newschecker and republished by NDTV as part of the Shakti Collective)