Inclusive Urban Governance: A Study of the Representation of Muslims in Urban Local Bodies

The largest democracy in the world, India, struggles with its minorities' under representation in political offices.The level of deprivation of Muslims in the legislative bodies ranges from 20 to 50 per cent.Similar circumstances exist in local government units like municipalities and panchayats.Factors like caste, religion, money, and physical strength all have a significant impact on Indian politics, which leads to the under representation of marginalized groups like minorities, SCs, STs, and BCs.Nonetheless, SCs and STs were able to obtain appropriate representation in the Parliament, State Assemblies, and local bodies as a result of the government's affirmative action policies, which included reservations in elected entities.In the same way, seat reservations helped the Backward Classes in the local bodies.Without an affirmative action strategy like this, minorities, including Muslims are glaringly underrepresented in local government bodies as well as in state and federal legislatures.Based on field data, the current study examines how Muslim minorities are represented in the Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh's Urban Local Bodies.