Other parties have approached me, says Saleem Shervani after quitting SP post
Samajwadi Party leader Saleem Iqbal Shervani, who resigned as a general secretary of the party, on Tuesday said leaders from other parties have approached him but he is not going anywhere “as of now”.
The former Union minister and five-time Lok Sabha MP from Badaun quit his post Sunday over the absence of a Muslim among his party's three nominees for the Rajya Sabha polls, saying it was an insult to the community.
On Rahul Gandhi's “Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra”, Shervani told PTI that going by the photos and videos on social media, there was no doubt that the Congress leaders is drawing people to him.
He also felt that the yatra could have an impact on the chances of the Congress in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
But asked if he was planning to switch to the Congress -– a party he has been with in the past — the 70-year-old said, “As of now, I am not going to join any (other) political party. However, the leaderships of some political parties are in touch with me.”
He said he has not given up the primary membership of the SP and will talk to his supporters over the next two or three weeks. The SP leaders categorically said the BJP has not approached him.
Shervani said there is no representation of ‘P' and ‘A' in the SP's nominations for the Rajya Sabha polls.
The reference was to party chief Akhilesh Yadav's PDA slogan – an acronym for Pichda (the backward), Dalit and Alpsankhyak (minorities).
“There is no semblance of P and A as far as the SP's Rajya Sabha candidates are concerned. So, I feel that Muslims are
