"Party is not at all following its motto": Saleem Sherwani after resigning from Samajwadi Party

New Delhi [India], February 18 (ANI): After resigning from the post of Samajwadi Party's General Secretary, Saleem Sherwani on Sunday hit out at the party, saying that the Akhilesh Yadav-led party is not following its motto for which it contests the elections.
"I thought that the topic, the issue on which we are fighting elections, our party is not at all following that motto, so why should we remain in the party..." he told ANI.
Saleem Sherwani further said that his resignation came against the backdrop of the party announcing the name of the candidate for the Rajya Sabha.
"This (my separation from the party) did not happen today. This happened when the member's name for the Rajya Sabha election was announced," he said.
He also took a swipe at the opposition bloc-INDIA (The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance), formed to take on the BJP-led Centre in the upcoming general elections.
"... No one is serious about the INDIA alliance... The motive with which the INDIA alliance was formed is not being fulfilled," Saleem Sherwani said.
There appears to be internal turmoil within the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, with several senior party officials resigning just months before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. This recent wave of resignations comes in the wake of Swami Prasad Maurya, a prominent SP leader, stepping down from his role as the general secretary of the party.
Five-time Congress MP from Badaun, Sherwani is a former Union minister of state for health and family welfare and has had a short stint as minister of state for external affairs (1997-1998).
Sherwani left the Congress party in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition and joined the Samajwadi Party. He, however, left SP and went back to Congress in 2009, when he was allegedly denied a ticket from Badaun to accommodate Yadav clan member Dharmendra Yadav from the seat. (ANI)