As BJP prepares for UP review, one big question: Why didn’t Pasmanda Muslims vote for it?

As the BJP prepares to begin its review of the Lok Sabha results in Uttar Pradesh, where its tally fell from 62 seats in 2019 to 33 seats this time, one of the considerations is the Pasmanda Muslim community and why the party failed to win its votes despite wide-scale outreach efforts over the last year and a half.

In the run-up to the elections, the BJP launched a series of programmes aimed at Pasmanda Muslims and gave prominence to the community’s leaders both in the government and party cadre in the state. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his public addresses repeatedly spoke of the community, alleging that both the Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP) had neglected it.

“Pasmanda” is a Persian word that means the “ones left behind”. It is used to describe the marginalised classes among Muslims. Pasmanda has become an umbrella identity used by backward, Dalit, and tribal Muslims. Pasmanda Muslims, who account for about 80% of Uttar Pradesh’s Muslim population, have a considerable presence in constituencies such as Mau, Ghazipur, Azamgarh, and even Varanasi.

Pasmanda Muslims have been the subject of several BJP outreach initiatives, from sammelans and sneh yatras to meetings with intellectuals. In differentiating between Pasmanda Muslims and the rest of the minority community, the party also held qaumi chaupals earlier this year that mainly focused on Pasmanda Muslims.

In July 2022, a BJP national executive conclave in Hyderabad made plans to focus on Pasmanda Muslims following Modi’s bid to ask the party to reach out to “deprived and downtrodden” sections in all communities. According to UP BJP insiders at the time, the party’s hopes to get the support of Pasmanda Muslims had risen after an estimated 8% of voters from the