4-time Bihar MP Mohd Ali Ashraf Fatmi resigns from JD (U), likely to rejoin RJD

Janata Dal (U) national general secretary Mohammed Ali Ashraf Fatmi said he was giving up the party post as well as the primary membership

DARBHANGA: Janata Dal (U) national general secretary Mohammed Ali Ashraf Fatmi, a prominent Muslim face of the party in Bihar, on Tuesday resigned from the party.

Mohammed Ali Ashraf Fatmi (Facebook/)

Fatmi, a four-time MP from Darbhanga, joined the JD(U) in July 2019, months after he exited the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) after his claims for the party ticket to contest the 2019 election were rejected.

In his communication to JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar, Fatmi said he was giving up the party post as well as the primary membership. “I am resigning from the primary membership of the Janata Dal (United), including all positions, for the protection of moral values. Please accept my resignation,” Fatmi said in his letter in Hindi.

Fatmi represented the Darbhanga seat in the Lok Sabha as a Janta Dal MP in 1991 and 1996, and later as an RJD MP under Lalu Prasad Yadav’s leadership in 1998 and 2004. He also served as union minister of state for human resource development between 2004 and 2009 in the first edition of the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government.

Fatmi exited the RJD in 2019 after being denied a ticket to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Darbhanga and Madhubani seats in Bihar, accusing Tejashwi Yadav of disrespecting him.

There were rumours that he could return to the RJD. but Fatmi declined to comment.

“I have quit JD(U) and do not wish to say much more in the matter. As regards my future course of action, it will be known in a few days,” he told news agency PTI after resigning on Tuesday.