Shahid Siddiqui quits RLD as 'uneasiness' grows among Muslim leaders over alliance with BJP

Lucknow: Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) national vice-president and senior party leader Shahid Siddique resigned from his post and the party citing his 'uneasiness' over its alliance with the BJP and stating that he could not remain 'silent' at a time when the constitution and democratic structure in the country were being 'undermined'.

Although Siddique sent his resignation letter to the RLD president Jayant Choudhary on Sunday, he shared the news on X(formerly Twitter) on the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed an election rally in Meerut in which Jayant was also present.

''It is a sin to remain silent when the constitution and democratic structure in the country are under threat.....I find myself in a quandary after RLD became part of the NDA...I can understand your (Jayant) political compulsions but now I have no option except to part ways with the party,'' Siddique wrote in his letter to the RLD chief.

RLD sources here said that Siddique wanted a Rajya Sabha nomination after the RLD became BJP's alliance partner but that did not fructify which might have prompted his resignation.

Thought it is not clear if Siddique would be joining some other political outfit, there are speculations in the political circles here that he might join Congress. UP Congress leaders however, said that they had no information on the matter.

Shahid's resignation comes amid reports of 'uneasiness' among the Muslim leaders of the RLD following the latter's alliance with the BJP.

In fact, two Muslim MLAs of the RLD, Ghulam Mohammed and Ashraf Ali, had made their displeasure public when they refused to be part of the RLD legislators, who visited Ayodhya at the invitation of the UP assembly speaker Satish Mahana a few days after the consecration ceremony at the Ram Temple on January 22.

Sources said that the two Muslim MLAs, who were part of the Samajwadi Party (SP) but had contested the 2022 assembly polls in the state on the RLD election symbol, could switch loyalty in the days to come.

Sources also said that several Muslim leaders of the RLD too were 'unhappy' with the alliance with the saffron party and might announce their resignations in the near future.

Political observers here also said that RLD's alliance with the BJP might also result in the division between the 'Jats' and the Muslims in the western UP districts. Jats and the Muslims which were two dominant communities in the region had formed part of the RLD vote bank from the days of former prime minister Choudhary Charan Singh.

The 2013 Muzaffarnagar communal riots in which around 60 people were killed and thousands of Muslims displaced had created a chasm between the two communities and it was this division that had helped the BJP corner the votes of the Jats in 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The two communities, however, once again came together in 2022 assembly polls when the SP and RLD formed an alliance.

"Jayant's alliance with the BJP may once again renew the division," said a Lucknow based political analyst while speaking to DH.