There is a powerful role that numbers can play in narrating the life of a democracy. As India votes in the 18th Lok Sabha elections, we dig out some key numbers that have shaped the country’s electoral politics over the decades. Data Proof, a seven-part series, will tell the story of elections in India through numbers. Out of the 30 chief ministers in India at present, only six belong to minority communities. Among them, four are Christians, one is Sikh and one is Buddhist. Despite being the largest minority group at 14.2 per cent of the country’s population as per the 2011 census, no Muslims currently serve as a Chief Minister. In all but two of the states with chief ministers from minority communities, the CM belongs to the religious group that occupies a majority at the state level. Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland are all predominantly Christian and have elected a Christian CM. In Punjab, Sikhism is the largest religious group, accounting for 57.7 per cent of the state’s population (2011 census). Bhagwant Mann, a Sikh, is the Chief Minister of Punjab. Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram have never had a non-Christian CM. Only three Hindus have been elected as the CM of Punjab since Independence — Gopi Chand Bhargava, Bhim Sen Sachar and Ram Kishan — and none since 1966. Only Andhra Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh have minority CMs that do not follow the religion most commonly practiced within their constituencies. In Andhra Pradesh , only 1.3 per cent of the population identifies as Christian and in Arunachal Pradesh, only 11.7 per cent identify as Buddhist. Despite that, Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, a Christian, and Pema Khandu, a Buddhist, serve as chief ministers of the two states, respectively. Reddy belongs to the politically influential Reddy community, which accounts for seven per cent of the state’s population. The Reddy community are historically landowning and have produced the most number of CMs since Andhra Pradesh’s formation in 1956. Arunachal Pradesh has roughly the same percentage of Christians (30 per cent) and Buddhists (29 per cent) living in the state. Previous chief ministers have come from both religious groups. Mann is a leader of the Aam Aadmi Party and Pema Khandu is a BJP leader. YS Jagan Mohan Reddy belongs to the YSR Congress Party, a party he formed after leaving the Indian National Congress in 2010. Reddy’s father, Yeduguri Sandinti Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR) was the 14th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh as a Congress candidate. When he died in a helicopter crash, his son led a condolence tour across the state, visiting families that had lost members to suicide or had suffered from poor health upon hearing of YSR’s death. The INC disapproved of Reddy’s condolence tour and amidst the backdrop of that split, Reddy formed his own political party. Conrad Sangma joined the National People’s Party, founded by his father PA Sangma in January 2013. PA Sangma broke away from the Congress, along with Sharad Pawar and Tariq Anwar, in 1999, on the issue of Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origins. Lalduhoma was also a former Congress leader before quitting the party to form the Zoram Nationalist Party in 1977, and later the Zoram People’s Movement in 2018. He was the first Member of Parliament to be disqualified under the anti-defection law in 1988 and was subsequently disqualified from the state legislative assembly in 2020 under the same Act. Neiphiu Rio is the only Nagaland CM to serve five consecutive terms and has been active in politics since he was a university student. While the term ‘minority’ is not defined in the Indian Constitution, according to the National Commission for Minority Education Institution (NCMEI) Act, 1993, which safeguards education rights for minorities, minority status is defined on a national level. Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, and Zoroastrians were designated as minority communities in 1993, with Jains added to the list in 2014. India comprises 28 states and eight Union Territories. Each of the states appoints its own Chief Minister whereas the Union Territories are governed by an administrator or lieutenant governor appointed by the President of India. Delhi, Puducherry, and Jammu and Kashmir have CMs due to constitutional amendments but the position has been vacant in J&K since 2018.
