Taking a stand contrary to that of the Samajwadi Party (SP), on whose ticket he was elected to the Parliament in 2019, Lok Sabha member from Moradabad Syed Tufail Hasan on Monday called for a broader unity among Opposition political forces, including the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), for the 2024 parliamentary poll.
Mr. Hasan went on to say that even All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi could have been invited to the Opposition meeting in Patna which was held on June 23. His statement is contrary to the SP’s stated position of not allying with the BSP or the AIMIM.
“We want everyone to fight together, be it Mayawati ji or Owaisi Saheb, ultimately everyone will get united, I have full confidence,” Mr. Hasan told media persons. When asked why the AIMIM should have been invited to the Opposition meeting, he asked, “Why not invite him”.
It is not the first time that a Lok Sabha member of the SP had gone against the party’s officially stated position. During the recent local body polls while campaigning against his own party nominee, SP Lok Sabha member from Shambhal Shafiqur Rahman Barq said he did not “care if the party fired” him and that he did not “fear any showcause notice”. Mr. Barq also heaped praise on the BSP chief Mayawati, lauding her work for Dalit community.
The SP has three Lok Sabha MPs — Dimple Yadav (Mainpuri), Mr. Hasan (Moradabad) and Mr. Barq (Sambhal).
The SP played down the statement saying the party was clear on its objective and was competent enough with like-minded democratic and socialist forces to defeat the BJP. “It is his [Mr. Hasan’s] individual statement. The party leadership has made it clear what will be our roadmap for upcoming elections and we are already in alliance with the RLD, and with such like-minded democratic and socialist forces we will defeat the BJP,” said SP national spokesperson Ameeque Jamei.
In Lucknow political circles the statements by SP MPs are seen as domestic constituency compulsions after the urban local body polls, in which the BSP and the AIMIM polled sizeable votes in the Muslim areas which has made the MPs insecure about their prospects in the 2024 poll. The AIMIM won five chairmen seats in Nagar Palika Parishad, including in Sambhal, Moradabad, and 75 councillor seats in various Municipal Corporations, including in Moradabad, Sambhal, Prayagraj and Meerut.
