Religious leader criticises Samajwadi Party for ignoring Muslims in Rajya Sabha elections 

President of the All India Muslim Jamaat, Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi Barelvi on Thursday questioned the Samajwadi Party (SP) for not nominating any Muslim among the three candidates named by the party for the Rajya Sabha election, adding that the community deserved two seats in view of its consistent support to the principal Opposition party in Uttar Pradesh.

In his letter, Mr. Barelvi said he was pained by the SP’s “anti-Muslim attitude”. “I want to bring in your notice a few ground realities. You made a pichada, Dalit and alpsankhyak (Backward Classes, Dalits and Minorities or PDA) grouping, running your campaign on the basis of it. You are fully aware that 98% Muslims voted for the SP in the 2022 Assembly elections, helping its MLAs to win many seats in an election where many communities, including your own, drifted towards the BJP. Despite it, you chose not to nominate even a single Muslim out of three seats in the Rajya Sabha, while the community deserved two seats. I am pained with this anti-Muslim attitude of yours,” wrote Mr. Razvi, who leads the Bareilly-based AIMJ, a religious organisation of the Barelvi movement in Sunni Islam, which enjoys sizeable support in the community. 

Mr. Rizvi claimed the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc had been weakened by the SP, which was not ready to accommodate a national party such as the Congress. “Due to your attitude and offer of fewer seats in the upcoming parliamentary polls, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) led by Jayant Chaudhary was forced to join the BJP. We are hearing of you doing same with the Congress. The Congress is a national party with governments in many States. Despite that, you are trying to give lesser and weaker seats to the grand old party. It is not right. The Muslim community will not remain silent if such attempts are made to tacitly help the BJP,” the letter said. 

The SP on February 13 declared the candidature of former MP Ram Ji Lal Suman, retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Alok Ranjan, and renominated Bollywood actor Jaya Bachchan to the Rajya Sabha for the three Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh. All three candidates filed their nomination papers at the State Assembly complex in the presence of the SP president Akhilesh Yadav, general secretary Shivpal Singh Yadav, and other party leaders.