JD(U) suffers setback in Seemanchal as Mujahid Alam quits over endorsement of waqf act amendments
Mujahid Alam's move comes amid a growing rebellion within the JD(U), starting with the resignation of party leader Mohammad Kasim Ansari. After Ansari, other prominent Muslim faces such as JD(U)'s minority cell state secretary Mohammad Shahnawaz Mallik, West Champaran vice president Nadeem Akhtar , minority cell state general secretary Mohammad Tabrez Siddiqui Alig, and Mohammad Dilshan Rayeen also resigned from the party .
New Delhi: Nearly a fortnight after the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, came into effect, the law continues to haunt the Janata Dal (United). The party's face in Bihar's Muslim-dominated Seemanchal area—Mujahid Alam—has quit JD(U), accusing Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of compromising on secularism.
Mujahid Alam said the JD(U) leadership had assured leaders such as him that objections to the inclusion of non-Muslims in Central Waqf Council and state waqf boards would not be part of the final Act. 'However, the gazette notification had all the provisions that we had flagged to the party leadership, who then assured us of their removal,' Alam told ThePrint.
'When we had studied the bill moved by the government in August last year, I flagged my objections to the party leadership. With this law, more than four lakh properties belonging to the waqf will cease to be its properties,' Mujahid Alam said. 'All Muslim organisations and stakeholders received the [Nitish Kumar-led government's] assurance that our concerns had reached the central government and the joint parliamentary committee.'
On the contrary, JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said the party had sought five amendments to the law, and the Centre and the joint parliamentary committee had accepted the same. 'JD(U) has never compromised on its secular credentials while running the government. It is not good to have a political comment on a personal decision taken by him [Mujahid Alam],' the spokesperson said.
Mujahid Alam is the latest leader to quit Bihar's ruling party within three weeks of JD(U) supporting the waqf amendment law in Parliament. Hours after the bill's passage, Ansari ditched the party, with the other Muslim leaders following him over the next couple of days.
While the party described earlier resignations as immaterial, considering the leaders were 'insignificant' leaders, spokesperson Neeraj Kumar conceded that Mujahid Alam was a 'considerably' important face in the party—specifically in the Seemanchal region.
Mujahid Alam was the party's candidate from Kishanganj in the 2024 general elections, running against Mohammad Jawed of the Congress and Akhtarul Iman of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen. He came second in the stiff triangular contest. Alam was also an MLA from the Kochadhaman assembly constituency between 2015 and 2020 before AIMIM leader Muhammad Izhar Asfi defeated him in the 2020 assembly election.
The Waqf (Amendment) Act 2025, introduced in Parliament in August 2024, was passed by both Houses earlier this month. The Ministry of Minority Affairs released a gazette notification on 8 April this year, making the bill a law.
Then, the JD(U), with its Lok Sabha MPs, and three voting members in the Rajya Sabha, played a crucial role in helping the Narendra Modi-led coalition government pass the waqf bill in Parliament.
'Nitish 2010 is unidentifiable with Nitish 2025'
A government school teacher for nearly 16 years after he qualified the Bihar Public Service Commission, Mujahid Alam quit to join the JD(U) at the peak of the party's might in 2010.
Speaking to ThePrint, Mujahid Alam said Bihar CM Nitish Kumar had never compromised on his principles such as secularism in the past, but the CM ended that legacy by supporting the waqf amendment Act.
In a reference to prove his point that Nitish Kumar earlier did not compromise, Mujahid Alam said the CM was strong enough to take action against ex-Union cabinet minister Ashwini Choubey's son after his alleged acts to challenge communal harmony in the state.
Bihar Police arrested Choubey's son Arijit Shashwat over his alleged involvement in the March 2018 communal clashes in Bhagalpur. The CM purportedly paved the way for police to charge Shashwat for the violence, which left several injured in the intense stone pelting.
'Taking such strong action against a Union minister's son while being in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party was the reflection of Nitish not compromising on his principle of secularism and communal harmony at any cost,' Mujahid Alam said.
'This Nitish Kumar is unidentifiable from Nitish Kumar of old from 2010, when I had joined the party after quitting service,' Alam added.
Countering his assertions, spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said the track record of the Nitish Kumar-led government on the issue of waqf included a Rs 110 crore allocation after the constitution of the Waqf Development Board, and the work done for the development of waqf properties such as the Anjuman Islamia hall in Patna.
'Has he [Mujahid Alam] not contested the 2024 general elections from this JD(U) only? It was undoubtedly not the JD(U) of 2010. In the 2024 election, he secured over three lakh votes just for Nitish Kumar, who has given Alam respect and helped him win the 2015 elections,' Neeraj Kumar said. 'He can have his reasons to quit the party, but attributing it to a change in Nitish Kumar's credentials is grossly wrong.'
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
Also Read: BJP's Ashwini Kumar Choubey bats for Deputy PM, NDA convener post for Nitish Kumar
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