Three Muslim leaders from Janata Dal United have resigned from the party over its support to the Waqf Amendment Bill. This development comes ahead of the Bihar elections, potentially impacting JDU's Muslim vote bank. The resignations include Mohammad Tabrez Siddiqui, State General Secretary of JDU's Minority Department, and Mohammad Shahnawaz Malik, State Secretary of JDU Minority Front. RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari criticised JDU, stating it has 'kneeled down in front of BJP for power and seat'.
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00:00Big, big news coming in from Bihar, specifically with regard to upcoming Bihar elections.
00:05Three Janata Dal United Netas have quit from the party for the support to Waqf Amendment Bill.
00:12This is big news. It looks like political tremors and the kind of showdown that we've been witnessing.
00:18Janata Dal United, remember, is an ally of the National Democratic Alliance, of the BJP.
00:23They have approved that and they have said that they are going to eventually come forth and support.
00:28But there is turmoil, that means. We are told the three leaders from the minority community in the JDU
00:34have resigned from the party. But it's not just about resignation from a party, it's ahead of Bihar elections.
00:41I'm talking about Mohammad Tabrez Siddiqui. He's the State General Secretary of the Minority Department of the Janata Dal United.
00:50Also there is Mohammad Shahnawaz Malik. They are angry over the support to the bill.
00:56We are told that, again, Nawaz Malik is also State Secretary of the JDU Minority Front.
01:01So these three leaders, at least, in turn have quit.
01:05I'm immediately going across to my colleague Rohit Singh for the latest on that.
01:10Rohit, good morning. That's the first that has happened that any leader has resigned from the party.
01:17All three Muslim leaders, I believe, tell us about their names, what is their stature in the party.
01:23Will it impact Bihar elections?
01:26Well, good morning, Pooja. And let me tell you, at the onset, politics is all about perception.
01:35And the perception here now being created, as far as Bihar is concerned,
01:40that Muslim leaders who are in Janata Dal United, that's the Nitish Kumar's party,
01:46are very upset with the fact that Nitish Kumar and his party have decided to support this Waqf's Amendment Bill
01:54in Lok Sabha as well as in Raj Sabha.
01:56Now, this bill has been passed in both the houses of the parliament.
01:59And now we are seeing a flurry of resignations coming from the Muslim leaders of the Janata Dal United.
02:06And three leaders have already resigned from the party in the last 12 hours.
02:13You already called the names, Shahnawaz Malik, Tabrez Siddiqui and Qasim Ansari.
02:18They are not very big leaders, but yes, they are important leaders in the party of Minority Cell and other departments.
02:26But it's all about perception that is being created here.
02:29And apart from the three resignations that have come, the Shia Waqf Board chief has also expressed his anger at Nitish Kumar
02:39supporting the bill. Gulam Ghosh, who is a party senior leader, he has expressed his reservation.
02:45And Rasool Baliyawi, who is a former Raj Sabha MP from the party, he has also expressed his anger against Nitish Kumar.
02:51So, you are seeing almost half a dozen Muslim leaders in the party.
02:55Some have resigned, some have come out openly and spoken against the party's decision to support the Waqf Bill.
03:01And this does not augur well before the assembly elections in Bihar.
03:04Because remember, Muslims in Bihar, at least 17 to 18 percent population vote back.
03:09And most of them have been voting for Lalu Prasad and RJD in the last few years.
03:13Stay on with me, stay on with me. On the phone line, first reaction coming in from the RJD.
03:18Mrityunjay Tiwari is joining me. Mrityunjay ji, you tell us, the three Muslim leaders of Janata Dal United have quit the party.
03:28But will this make a difference? Because eventually, they have remained the alliance partners of BJP.
03:32And the party is still strong in the alliance.
03:35Look, JDU and respected Nitish Kumar ji used to call themselves secularism and used to say that we are a secular party, JDU.
03:46But the way in the last two days, the face of JDU has been exposed,
03:55the way they are calling the RSS-satisfied CM Nitish Kumar, not Nitish Kumar, but Chitish Kumar on the agenda of the BJP.
04:09Because they have kneeled down in front of the BJP for power, for seats. JDU has been exposed.
04:17Now the charge is coming to you, Mrityunjay ji, of RJD, that they are appeasing the Vote Bank.
04:22Do you think this will make a difference to RJD, that if three Muslim leaders leave JDU, then RJD will have more and more support?
04:33Look, this is not a question of harm and benefit, it is not a question of profit and loss, it is a question of the country.
04:41This country will follow its constitution, its rules and regulations.
04:46If someone spoils the dreams of Babasaheb Ambedkar, then this country cannot forgive him.
04:53Now Nitish Kumar's party has remained as the backbone of the BJP. Now only BJP has to be united.
05:01Now the name of JDU will be BJPU. BJPU.
05:10Now the name of JDU will be changed.
05:12Now the people have become a party. Now there is no existence of this party.
05:18The people who are supporters of the BJP in the NDA government, how will they go to the people now?
05:25The way the constitution and democracy are being rolled out, the government cannot run the country on the basis of power.
05:35Do you believe that the Muslim community will now unite and vote for RJD?
05:43JDU's entire vote has been changed.
05:45Look, all of us, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, all these people vote for RJD.
05:53At that time, the biggest party was RJD in Bihar in 2020.
05:57At that time, we were the only party that made RJD a government in Bihar.
06:03This is not a question of Hindus and Muslims. You should not look at it from this perspective.
06:07You should see that today they have done this kind of work, tomorrow they will do another kind of work.
06:13The government cannot be left unattached. The opposition is also a part of the government.
06:18This country will not run on the basis of the power of the government, but on the basis of the constitution.
06:24What is happening in the country?
06:26Thank you so much. Mrityunjay Tiwari from the RJD is saying this is like a B team of the BJP, now JDU.
06:32It's going to be BJPU and that they are communalising the situation of this country like with the Waqf Amendment Bill.