Miffed with Nitish’s support to Waqf Bill, Muslims leaders desert JD(U)

Patna: With the passage of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2025 in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Muslim leaders in the ruling Janata Dal (United) have expressed their “utter disappointment” over the stand taken by Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar.

While JD(U) national general secretary and former Rajya Sabha member Ghulam Rasool Baliyawi and JD(U) MLC Ghulam Gaus minced no words in opposing the party’s stand, some of the Muslim office-bearers of the JD(U) went on to resign from the primary membership of the party after writing a strong protest letter to Nitish and accusing the Chief Minister of “shattering the faith Muslims reposed in him”.

“Lakhs of Muslims had immense faith in you as you were the flag-bearer of secular ideology. However, your stand on the Waqf Bill has shocked us and the faith of Muslims in your leadership completely shattered,” said Mohammad Kasim Ansari of the JD(U).

Another office-bearer Mohammad Tabrez Siddiqui, in his resignation to party president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said he was quitting from the post of the State general secretary and primary membership of the party after watching the statements of JD(U) leader and Union Minister Lallan Singh in the Lok Sabha which was “disheartening and disappointing”. “The bill strikes at the constitutional rights of the Indian Muslims and appears to be an attempt to push the Muslims community to the margins,” he said.

In his strongly-worded resignation letter to Nitish, he said, “You have eroded the confidence of Muslims, who stood by you in the last two decades and helped you remain at the helm since 2005.... I am deeply shocked with your stand on Waqf Bill......and resigning from the party post and primary membership of the party..... In the ensuing Assembly elections, there will be mad scramble among leaders to leave the JD(U),” said a miffed Siddiqui.

The JD(U), however, remained unperturbed and said these ‘lesser mortals’ were never party office-bearers and would make no impact.

Notably, last week, several Muslim religious bodies and organisations had decided to boycott Nitish’s Iftaar party and charged Bihar CM with ‘betrayal’. Their angst was basically aimed to protest Nitish’s support for the Waqf Bill in the Parliament.