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Another blow to SP as Salim Sherwani quits party post
Sherwani had rejoined the Samajwadi Party in 2020, leaving the Congress behind. He is the fourth senior SP leader since Tuesday to either have tendered his resignation from his post or raised a voice of rebellion.
In yet another blow to the Samajwadi Party, five-time former Badaun MP and ex-Union minister Salim Sherwani on Sunday quit the post of Samajwadi Party national general secretary over the party’s “inappropriate” selection of Rajya Sabha candidate and neglect of the Muslim community and their issues.
Though his resignation letter said he was quitting the post and will continue to work for the party, he said to reporters in Delhi that he has quit the party and will decide future course of action after a meeting with his supporters.
Sherwani had rejoined the Samajwadi Party in 2020, leaving the Congress behind. He is the fourth senior SP leader since Tuesday to either have tendered his resignation from his post or raised a voice of rebellion.
On Tuesday, Swami Prasad Muarya quit the national general secretary’s post saying that the party had been disowning his statements. The same day SP MLA and Apna Dal (Kamerwadi) leader Pallavi Patel announced that she would abstain from voting in the February 27 Rajya Sabha polls.
She had said that the SP instead of following the PDA formula (pichada, Dalit, alpsahkhyak--backward, Dalit, and minorities) gave RS tickets to an actor and an ex-bureaucrat, ignoring the OBCs and Muslims.
The SP has fielded Dalit (Ramji Lal Suman), Jaya Bachchan (actor and current RS member of SP whose term is ending on April 2), and ex-UP chief secretary Alok Ranjan for the election.
On Friday, Dalit leader Kamla Kant Gautam resigned as SP state secretary, citing it as an inconsequential post with no responsibility or accountability.
Salim Sherwani stated that the Muslims were feeling neglected and were steadily losing faith in the party.
Sherwani’s text in Hindi to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav stated that Muslims were feeling continuously neglected, and no Muslim was given a ticket for the Rajya Sabha this time.
The SP leader said: “Muslims are in search of a true leader, and I believe that while being in the Samajwadi Party, he cannot bring much change in the condition of Muslims.”
He said, “I have been consistently discussing the situation of Muslims with you for some time now. I have always tried to convey that Muslims are feeling neglected and are continuously losing their faith in the party. There is a growing distance between them and the party, and they are searching for a true leader. The party should not underestimate their support. The sentiment among Muslims is increasing that no one in the secular platform is willing to address their legitimate issues.”
“I have repeatedly requested a Rajya Sabha seat for the Muslim community according to the party’s tradition. Although my name was not considered, there was not a single Muslim candidate among the candidates announced by the party. The way you have distributed tickets for the Rajya Sabha shows that you do not give importance to PDA. This raises the question of how you are different from the BJP.”
He also questioned the seriousness of the party towards the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
He said: “The attempt to form a strong opposition alliance is proving to be futile. No one seems to be taking it seriously. It appears that the Opposition is more interested in fighting each other rather than combating the wrong policies of the ruling party. Now, secularism has become a facade. In India, especially in Uttar Pradesh, Muslims have never demanded anything beyond their right to live with equality, dignity, and security. However, this demand also seems significant to the party. The party has no response to our demand. Therefore, I believe that with my current situation in the Samajwadi Party, I cannot bring any change to the situation of my community,” he added.
However, he said to reporters in Delhi: “This (my separation from the party) did not happen today. This happened when the member’s name for the Rajya Sabha election was announced...I thought that the topic, the issue on which we are fighting elections, our party is not at all following that motto (PDA), so why should we remain in the party...No one is serious about the INDIA alliance... The motive with which the INDIA alliance was formed is not being fulfilled.”
Salim Sherwani won his first Lok Sabha election as a Congress candidate from Badaun in 1984. After that, he won four elections for the seat as the SP candidate. When the SP denied him a ticket to the seat in 2009 and fielded Mulayam’s nephew Dharmendra Yadav, Sherwani moved back to the Congress and recontested the seat. But Dharmendra won. In 2020, Sherwani returned to the SP.
