Patna, April 3: JD(U) leader Mohammed Qasim Ansari on Thursday resigned from the party in protest against the party’s support to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, which was passed in the Lok Sabha despite widespread opposition.
In a letter to JD(U) president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Ansari said the party’s stance had shattered the trust of millions of Indian Muslims who believed JD(U) would uphold secular values. However, when asked about Ansari, JD(U) national spokesman Rajiv Ranjan Prasad dismissed him as “non-entity” and claimed that nobody knew him.
“Who is he? He has never been an office bearer of consequence in the party or a prominent figure. I don’t even know him. He never held any post in the party, even at the district level. He is a non-entity,” Prasad told. Interestingly, JD(U) did not contest the Dhaka Assembly seat in East Champaran district in the last elections, which is currently represented by BJP’s Pawan Jaiswal. Ansari had earlier claimed that he was the potential candidate of the party from that seat in the upcoming Assembly polls. A key aide of the Bihar CM said there was “no confusion” within JD(U) regarding the party’s support for the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in Parliament. (PTI)
