NEW DELHI: In a setback to the Uttar Pradesh Congress ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections, senior leader Naseemuddin Siddiqui, who commands significant support among Muslims in western UP, resigned from the party’s primary membership on Saturday along with 73 supporters.
Highly placed sources said Siddiqui had been seeking a greater role in the decision-making process of the UP Congress and had been attempting for nearly a year to secure time for a detailed discussion with Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi, without success.
Sources said Siddiqui had long felt marginalized within the party and was increasingly concerned about his political future. According to them, while he has explored the possibility of returning to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), he may instead join the Chandrashekhar Azad-led Azad Samaj Party-Kanshiram (ASP-KR) if BSP chief Mayawati declines to re-induct him.
In his resignation letter, addressed to Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, LoP Rahul Gandhi, Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, UP Congress in-charge Avinash Pandey and UP Congress president Ajay Rai, Siddiqui wrote that he was resigning from the party’s primary membership along with his supporters “due to unavoidable reasons”.
In a statement issued after his resignation, Siddiqui said he had been unable to work effectively at the grassroots level during the eight years he spent in the Congress. He added that while he bore no resentment towards any senior leader—including Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi—he wished to work actively at the grassroots, something he felt was not possible within the party.
Speaking to The Sunday Guardian (TSG), sources in the UP Congress said that although Siddiqui had been unhappy over not being assigned any major role, including during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the immediate trigger for his resignation was his alleged denial of entry at Amausi airport to receive Rahul Gandhi during the latter’s visit to Rae Bareli via Lucknow.
While Siddiqui has said he will clarify his future plans within the next four days, sources in ASP-KR confirmed that he was welcome to join the party and could be accommodated in a significant role. The party is organizing a major rally in Agra—BSP chief Mayawati’s stronghold and a region often referred to as the “Dalit capital”—on Sunday.
Till late Saturday evening, UP Congress president Ajay Rai continued efforts in Lucknow to persuade Siddiqui to reconsider his decision, but sources said he was unwilling to relent.
“Siddiqui had been trying to meet Rahul Gandhi for about a year to discuss his role in the party but did not get a substantive opportunity. While he met Rahul ji, he could not have a detailed discussion. He was deeply concerned about his position in the party,” a senior UP Congress leader told TSG.
The leader added that while Siddiqui cited the airport incident as the immediate cause, the real issue was his demand for a role in decision-making, which he felt was denied to him.
Siddiqui, who was expelled from the BSP in 2017, joined the Congress in 2018 along with his supporters. His exit from the BSP had been acrimonious, despite his position as the party’s number two leader at the time.
