Delhi: AAP MLA resigns from party, accuses Kejriwal of ‘ignoring’ Muslims rights

Seelampur MLA Abdul Rehman wrote to Kejriwal saying his resignation from the Aam Aadmi Party was a “moral duty”.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Seelampur, Abdul Rehman, on Tuesday wrote to party convener Arvind Kejriwal, informing him of his decision to resign from the party's primary membership, citing Muslims' rights being ignored as the reason.

AAP MLA from Seelampur Abdul Rehman. (HT Archive)

In the letter shared on X, Rehman accused the party of ignoring the rights of Muslims and other underprivileged communities and getting entangled in power politics.

The MLA deemed his decision a “moral duty” after observing how the party and its leadership have evolved since its founding. Rehman alleged that AAP only cared about “vote bank” politics and cited examples to drive his point that it ignored the rights of the Muslim community.

The Seelampur MLA said the AAP government's attitude during the Delhi riots was “extremely disappointing” and alleged that no concrete steps were taken to provide justice to riot victims, nor did the government show “sympathy”.

“Our colleague Tahir Hussain, who was falsely implicated in the riots, was expelled from the party and left to his own. Delhi Markaz and Maulana Saad were targeted during the Corona epidemic,” Rehman wrote in his letter.

The MLA accused Kejriwal of not taking a stand on these issues nor refuting misleading “propaganda” against members of the Muslim community. “Recently, you did not even consider it necessary to tweet on a sensitive issue like the Sambhal riots,” Rehman said.

“Your silence and indifference towards the issues of Muslims has left me and my community feeling cheated time and again. The party leadership is now prioritising its political ambitions rather than the public,” the letter said.

Rehman further alleged that the AAP has “cheated” leaders like him who believed that the party's politics would rise above caste and religion. “My resignation will remain the voice of those who were ignored by the party and tried to snatch their rights,” he added.

The MLA called on Kejriwal to “introspect” himself and his party's attitude and promised to continue fighting for people's rights. “I will soon announce my political direction and future steps,” Rehman said.

His decision comes a day after AAP denied him a ticket to contest the upcoming Delhi assembly election from Seelampur and fielded Chaudhary Zubair Ahmad, who had defected from the Congress party.

(With ANI inputs)