Saleem Sherwani, senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and five-time former MP, resigned from the post of the party’s national general secretary on Sunday. He alleged that the Akhilesh Yadav-led party is not following its motto for which it contests the elections.
Explaining his move to reporters after his resignation, Sherwani criticised the Samajwadi Party and also questioned the party’s proposed names for the Rajya Sabha elections.
“This 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, so why should we remain in the party,” he said.
Sherwani also alleged, “No one is serious about the INDIA alliance… The motive with which the INDIA alliance was formed is not being fulfilled…”
A five-time MP from Badaun, Sherwani was a Union minister of state for health and family welfare and has had a short stint as minister of state for external affairs (1997-1998).
According to sources, four more senior SP officials are also planning to quit the party, and they were present along with Salim Sherwani in a meeting on Sunday.
The leaders are state secretaries Rakesh Rajput, Sajid Khan, and Yogendra Pal Singh.
Sources also suggest a possibility of Abid Raza, a former minister, also resigning from Akhilesh Yadav’s party.
With inputs from Kumar Abhishek