Ahead of Lok Sabha Elections 2024, the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh faced another setback as seasoned politician Saleem Sherwani resigned from the post of general secretary. He is the second SP leader who resigned from his party position. Recently, controversial politician Swami Prasad Maurya resigned from the post of general secretary.
#WATCH | Delhi: On resigning from the post of Samajwadi Party's General Secretary, Saleem Sherwani says, "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… pic.twitter.com/F0xlS0juTi
— ANI (@ANI) February 18, 2024
Reports suggest that Sherwani has accused the party of neglecting Muslims, particularly while selecting candidates for the Rajya Sabha. In a letter to party chief and former Chief Minister of UP Akhilesh Yadav, sherwani highlighted the continuous neglect that the Muslims feel within the party. He criticized the party for not choosing Muslim candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections. He said, “Muslims are consistently feeling neglected. Even in the Rajya Sabha elections, no Muslim candidate was sent. While my name might not be under consideration, a Muslim candidate should have been given the opportunity. Muslims are searching for true representation, and I feel staying in SP, I cannot bring significant changes to the condition of Muslims.”
राज्यसभा नहीं भेजे जाने से नाराज़ चल रहे सपा नेता सलीम शेरवानी ने सपा महासचिव पद से इस्तीफा दिया. अखिलेश यादव को भेजे गए पत्र में लिखा, "हमें नहीं भेजा कोई बात नहीं,आपने PDA को कोई महत्व ही नहीं दिया." #AkhileshYadav #SalimSherwani pic.twitter.com/rU0pjfADXa
— Anjali (@anjaliii_singh) February 18, 2024
Sherwani further accused the party of tokenism in terms of inclusivity and said, “The way my name was used, but seeing the list of candidates for the Rajya Sabha, it seems like you don’t give any importance to the minority community.” Speaking on the coalition of opposition parties, he said, “Efforts to form a strong opposition alliance seem futile, and nobody seems serious about it. It appears that the opposition is more interested in fighting among themselves rather than against the ruling party’s wrong policies.”
On the matter of Secularism, he said, “Secularism has become a facade. In India, especially in Uttar Pradesh, Muslims have never demanded anything beyond equality, dignity, and security in addition to their rights. However, the party seems indifferent to this demand. The party has no response to our demand. Therefore, I believe that I cannot change my community’s situation within the SP. In this situation, I am resigning as the party’s National General Secretary. I will decide my political future in the coming weeks.”
Saleem Sherwani is a seasoned politician from Uttar Pradesh. He has served as a Member of Parliament from the Badayun Lok Sabha constitution five times. Four times, he contested from SP and once from Congress. Before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he switched from SP to Congress. However, after getting defeated, he came back to SP.
