muslimdata.in

Last updated 29 July 2026

Muslim MLAs in state assemblies

Across all 31 state and UT legislative assemblies that hold elections, what share of MLA seats is held by Muslims. Each state pairs two bars: the maroon share of assembly seats against the grey share of population (Census 2011), so each state's seats can be compared at a glance with its share of the population.

6.0%of state-assembly seats (agg.)(2024)

vs population: -8.2pp

Explore the interactive chart, with breakdowns by assembly →

By assembly31 assemblies

Muslims hold about 6% of seats across the 31 state and UT assemblies covered, each at its most recent election, against a 14.2% share of the population. Jammu & Kashmir leads at 60.0%; 9 assemblies have no Muslim MLA at all. Each row pairs the maroon seat-share bar with a grey bar for the state's Muslim population share (Census 2011; the J&K figure includes pre-2019 Ladakh, and Telangana's aggregates the ten undivided-AP districts that formed the state in 2014).

AssemblyElectionMuslim MLAsSeat sharePopulation share
Jammu & Kashmir202454 of 9060.0%68.3%
Kerala202635 of 14025.0%26.6%
Assam202131 of 12624.6%34.2%
West Bengal202640 of 29313.7%27.0%
Uttar Pradesh202234 of 4038.4%19.3%
Bihar202019 of 2437.8%16.9%
Telangana20237 of 1195.9%12.7%
NCT of Delhi20254 of 705.7%12.9%
Haryana20245 of 905.6%7.0%
Uttarakhand20223 of 704.3%13.9%
Karnataka20239 of 2244.0%12.9%
Jharkhand20243 of 813.7%14.5%
Maharashtra202410 of 2883.5%11.5%
Puducherry20211 of 303.3%6.1%
Rajasthan20236 of 2003.0%9.1%
Tamil Nadu20215 of 2342.1%5.9%
Andhra Pradesh20243 of 1751.7%9.6%
Manipur20221 of 601.7%8.4%
Gujarat20223 of 1821.7%9.7%
Madhya Pradesh20232 of 2300.9%6.6%
Punjab20221 of 1170.9%1.9%
Odisha20241 of 1470.7%2.2%
Arunachal Pradesh20240 of 600.0%2.0%
Sikkim20240 of 320.0%1.6%
Chhattisgarh20230 of 900.0%2.0%
Tripura20230 of 600.0%8.6%
Meghalaya20230 of 600.0%4.4%
Nagaland20230 of 600.0%2.5%
Mizoram20230 of 400.0%1.4%
Himachal Pradesh20220 of 680.0%2.2%
Goa20220 of 400.0%8.3%

Hand-compiled Reproduce this view. These counts are hand-compiled from election-wise ECI candidate affidavits and cross-checked across multiple journalistic sources, since no single official source tabulates members by religion. Source: PRS / ECI affidavits. Each value is computed from the data file · transform code; every row records its own source and method.

Bottom line

Muslims hold about 6% of seats across India's state legislative assemblies, against a 14.2% population share. The shortfall is narrower than in the Lok Sabha but still wide, and it varies sharply from state to state, which the By assembly tab lays out.

How to read the chart

The chart shows the Muslim share of seats in each state and union-territory assembly at its most recent election, with a national aggregate of about 6%. The By assembly tab ranks the states and pairs each one's seat share against its Muslim population share, so you can see where representation tracks numbers and where it falls far short.

Why it matters

State assemblies decide on policing, land, health and schooling, the services that touch daily life most directly. Thin representation in them means fewer voices on exactly the local decisions that shape a community's living conditions.

Deeper analysis

Potential drivers

  • Geography by state · Representation roughly tracks where Muslims are concentrated enough to swing a seat; states with a dispersed Muslim population elect almost none ↗ Ranganath Misra Commission, 2007.
  • Candidate selection · As in Parliament, party ticket decisions set the ceiling on how many Muslims can win an assembly seat ↗ Beg, The India Forum.
  • Reserved seats · Seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Tribes, which Muslims cannot contest as such, remove some constituencies from the open pool ↗ Ranganath Misra Commission, 2007.

Key levers

  • Party tickets · The direct lever is how many Muslim candidates parties field in winnable assembly seats.
  • Local pipeline · Strong representation in local bodies feeds candidates upward into assembly contests.
  • Inclusive rolls · Complete electoral rolls and turnout work ensure no eligible voter is left uncounted.
Key stakeholders

Badges link to an independent or registered credential where the organisation publishes one (Credibility Alliance, GiveIndia, 80G, FCRA). Many smaller NGOs do not take part in these registries, so a missing badge is not a mark against an organisation.

About this measurement

Definition. Percentage of state legislative assembly seats held by Muslim MLAs. National aggregate (~6%) plus per-assembly values for all 31 state + UT assemblies that hold elections (28 states + Delhi, Puducherry, J&K, most-recent election per assembly, spanning 2020-2026). Each state pairs two bars: the maroon share of assembly seats against the grey share of population (Census 2011), so each state's seats can be compared at a glance with its share of the population.

Methodology. Manual-entry metric, like ls-share: religion is not officially tabulated by ECI or PRS. Underlying data is candidate-affidavit religion classified post-election by journalists (Maktoob, Clarion, India Forum, The Wire, Deccan Herald, Outlook, Radiance Weekly, Free Press Journal, ummid.com, thenewzradar). National aggregate ~6% across the 31 covered assemblies.

Highest: J&K 60% (2024, first election since Article 370 reorg); Kerala 25%, Assam 24.6%. Lowest: HP / Goa / Mizoram / Nagaland / Sikkim / Arunachal / Chhattisgarh / Tripura / Meghalaya, all 0% (most have never elected a Muslim MLA in state history). Each row's methodology_note cites the source compilation(s) used.

The per-state population context (the grey bars and the By-assembly table's population column) is the Census 2011 Muslim share: the J&K figure includes pre-2019 Ladakh, and Telangana's figure (12.7%) is aggregated from the ten undivided-Andhra-Pradesh census districts that formed the state in 2014, Hyderabad included.

Sources. PRS / ECI affidavits. Download CSV: mla-share.csv.

Hand-compiled How to reproduce. These counts are hand-compiled from election-wise ECI candidate affidavits and cross-checked across multiple journalistic sources, since no single official source tabulates members by religion.

Related indicators