Bihar polls: Just 35 Muslim candidates fielded, highlighting underrepresentation
Patna: A political controversy has surfaced in Bihar ahead of the assembly elections, with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and other parties facing allegations of marginalising Muslim candidates in the allocation of party tickets.
Only 35 Muslim candidates have been fielded across parties, even though Muslims constitute nearly 17.7% of the state’s population. The RJD and Congress, two key allies of the INDIA bloc who project themselves as advocates of Muslim representation, have together fielded 28 candidates from the community, as reported by The New Indian Express on Sunday.
The RJD, contesting 143 seats, has given tickets to 18 Muslim candidates, while the Congress, contesting 61 seats, has fielded 10. The CPI(ML)-Liberation has nominated two, while the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) led by Mukesh Sahani, another INDIA bloc partner, has fielded none.
In the NDA camp, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) has nominated four Muslim candidates out of the 101 seats it is contesting. The Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) led by Union Minister Chirag Paswan has fielded one Muslim candidate among its 29 nominees, while the BJP has not given any ticket to Muslims.
Muslim representation in the Bihar Assembly has fluctuated over time. Between 1990 and 2020, it averaged around 8%. The 2020 Assembly had 19 Muslim MLAs (7.81%) in the 243-member House, while the 2015 House had 24 Muslim MLAs (9.87%), one of the community’s highest levels of representation, added the report.
Political analysts quoted in the report note that the decline in Muslim representation reflects both shifting party strategies and changing alliance structures. They trace the community’s political realignment to the aftermath of the 1989 Bhagalpur riots and the Ram Rath Yatra, which weakened Muslim support for the Congress. RJD chief Lalu Prasad subsequently positioned his party as a political home for Muslims and other marginalised groups, building a durable support base on a platform of social justice and inclusive empowerment.
However, analysts suggest that secular parties now exercise caution in distributing tickets to Muslim candidates, fearing polarisation of votes that could benefit rival parties.
The 243-member Bihar Assembly will go to polls in two phases on November 6 and November 11, with the results set to be announced on November 14.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
