Masood Ahmed’s letter calls for suspending alliance with SP till RLD is ‘considered equal’
Masood Ahmed’s letter calls for suspending alliance with SP till RLD is ‘considered equal’
Indicating the churning of relations between the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) after the UP assembly elections, RLD state president Masood Ahmed on Saturday wrote an explosive letter to party president Chaudhary Jayant Singh, accusing him and SP President Akhilesh Yadav accused the party of taking money in lieu of ticket and failing to address Dalit and Muslim issues. The letter, which has ‘resignation’ as its subject, comes days after Mr Singh dismissed the RLD front bodies and called for a meeting in Lucknow on March 21.
Citing examples, Mr. Ahmed, who has been the state president since 2016, also accused the SP of undermining alliance partners and accused its leaders of adopting a “supremo culture”. Mr. Ahmed appealed to Mr. Singh to suspend the alliance until Mr. Yadav considered the RLD as an equal partner.
In a recent television interview, Mr Singh had said that the SP and the RLD will fight the 2024 Lok Sabha elections together.
In the letter written in Hindi, Mr. Ahmed said, “Those who joined the party at the last minute were given tickets.” He claimed that he has apprised both the leaders about the problems being faced in ticket distribution and this would affect the election results.
Mr Ahmed said the Jats, who form the party’s core vote bank, felt insulted by the way the SP leadership asserted itself in ticket distribution, and as a result at least two-thirds of the community lost their votes to the Indian public. Voted. Party (BJP).
He said Mr Yadav has humiliated senior Muslim leaders like Imran Masood. “How long will Muslims vote for you despite being ignored?” He asked. Accusing the leaders of entering the fray at the last minute, he said that SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav succeeded as he spent all his time in public. “People don’t like their leaders to come out only during elections,” he said.
He said that the workers of RLD, Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) and Mahan Dal were neglected during the campaign. Mr. Ahmed said that he also wanted Azad Samaj Party chief Chandrashekhar Azad’s sentiments to be respected but his advice was not heeded. “Therefore Patel” [Kurmi] And the Dalit vote got scattered.”
He expressed surprise that when 10 SP candidates had fought on RLD’s election symbol, none of the RLD candidates were given SP ticket. “This happened despite both of you announcing that there would be reciprocity in ticket distribution,” said Mr. Ahmed.
According to Mr. Ahmed, while Mr. Singh had repeatedly said that the SP-RLD alliance was contesting 403 seats, the SP did not give any representation to the RLD in the eastern parts of the state. “My advice is that the party [RLD] should be suspended [its] Alliance with SP unless it treats us as an equal partner,” he said.
Expressing confidence in Mr. Singh’s leadership, Mr. Ahmed requested him and Mr. Yadav to respond to the issues raised in his letter before March 21, when a meeting of the party has been called in Lucknow, otherwise the letter would be sent to him. Resignation should be considered.
In his response, RLD’s national spokesperson Sandeep Choudhary said, “It seems that Mr. Ahmed is upset with the dissolution. [party’s] Organization in the State by the National President [Chaudhary Jayant Singh] And that is why he is making such baseless allegations.” He added, “We are committed to bring youth to the fore and strengthen the organization under Jayant’s leadership- Yes,