Mumbai: A section of Muslim and Dalit politicians has accused the six Shiv Sena (UBT) rebel MPs of “betrayal” after they defected to the Shiv Sena. The politicians have said that these MPs, including Sanjay Dina Patil representing Mumbai North East, won largely because of en bloc voting by Muslims and Dalits as they fought the 2024 LS polls on the plank of “saving secularism and the Constitution.”
“The voters in my area (Shivajinagar-Mankhurd) and other constituencies which these MPs represent feel cheated. The people voted for them because they fought on the plank of secularism and saving the Constitution. Now they have joined a party which is part of NDA and is working against secularism and the Constitution,” alleged SP MLA Abu Asim Azmi from Mankhurd-Shivajinagar.
Shyam Dada Gaikwad, president of Republican Party of India (Secular), slammed the six MPs, accusing them of breaching the people’s trust. “I toured Dalit pockets in Mumbai and other parts of the state extensively seeking votes for the INDI alliance candidates. These six MPs have capitulated to inducements and pressure from above. The Dalits who voted for them are very worried and anguished,” Gaikwad said.
City Congress general secretary Asif Farooqui said the community is pained and jolted by the defection of the six MPs. “The people voted for an ideology, an alliance, and a commitment — not for elected representatives to switch sides for political convenience after securing their votes. Such actions amount to a betrayal of the people’s trust and weaken faith in democracy itself,” said Farooqui who is also associated with Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia.
Courtesy : TOI
Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights