“Can’t associate with BJP…” RLD vice president Shahid Siddiqui resigns from party over Jayant Chaudhary joining NDA, says ‘remaining silent is a sin when democracy is under threat’

In a dramatic turn of events, Shahid Siddiqui, the national vice president of Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), has tendered his resignation from the party stating differences over Jayant Chaudhary's decision to join the folds of BJP-led NDA ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. “Yesterday I sent my resignation letter to national president Shri Jayant Singh,” Shahid Siddiqui posted on X on Monday morning. He also called it a sin to remain silent at a time when ‘democracy’ has come under ‘threat’.

“Why I resigned now? Two reasons. I didn’t want to resign immediately as I welcomed the Bharat Ratna accorded to Chaudhry Charan Singh Ji. I didn’t want to be seen opposing it.
Secondly, the attack on elected Chief Ministers and Opposition parties when elections have been announced is an attack on Indian Democracy & the great institutions that we have built” Siddiqui posted on ‘X’ as a separate statement, drawing references to the recent arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren by the Enforcement Directorate, something that has been termed by INDIA bloc alliance partners as an assault on democracy.

The RLD recently joined hands with the BJP-led NDA and declared candidates for two seats in Uttar Pradesh for the coming Lok Sabha elections. In the 2014 Parliamentary polls, Jayant Chaudhary’s RLD had fought elections in alliance with Congress and in 2019 Lok Sabha polls they went along with Samajwadi Party. RLD was in alliance with the Samajwadi Party even during the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

“Now with the RLD becoming a part of the NDA puts me in a bind and in a piquant situation. I have struggled long and hard in my mind and heart but find myself unable to be associated with an alliance headed by the BJP,” Siddiqui said.​