Congress Relies On Muslim Leaders In Western Uttar Pradesh, Ahmed Hamid Joins Party After Imran Masood

After Imran Masood, another leader from an influential Muslim family in western Uttar Pradesh, Ahmed Hamid joined Congress with hundreds of his supporters on Monday (9 October).

He was welcomed by UP Congress president Ajay Rai at the party's state headquarters in Lucknow. Omveer Tomar, who wrote a book on Samajwadi Party (SP) founder Mulayam Singh Yadav too joined Congress on this occasion.

These joinings are a jolt to the SP-RLD alliance which will further create tensions within the INDI Alliance as former Cabinet Minister Nawab Kokab Hamid's son, Ahmed Hamid, joined the Congress after leaving Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).

While Kokab Hamid served as a legislator from the Baghpat assembly constituency five times and held ministerial positions thrice, his son's political journey has not been successful.

Ahmed Hamid contested as a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate in 2017 and as a candidate RLD candidate under the SP-RLD alliance in 2022, but remained a runner-up on both occasions against BJP's Yogesh Dhama.

After remaining active in Uttar Pradesh politics for nearly 35 years, Nawab's political legacy started diminishing even before his demise as he faced defeat in the last assembly election (in 2012 on the RLD ticket).

However, the family's influence cannot be denied, especially when it comes to consolidating the Muslim vote as Ahmed Hamid lost the 2022 elections by a narrow margin of 3 per cent votes.

Now when this joining comes before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, it is expected that Ahmed Hamid will be Congress' face at the Baghpat parliamentary seat.

Notably, RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary contested from here in the 2019 elections but lost to BJP's Dr Satyapal Singh. He is a Rajya Sabha MP now, so may not contest from here.

However, this seat is a legacy seat for RLD as Jayant Chaudhary's father represented Baghpat in Lok Sabha six times. Prior to him, Jayant's grandfather Charan Singh represented Baghpat thrice.

Thus, Ahmed Hamid's presence in Congress will become a bone of contention for parties within the INDI Alliance (majorly SP, RLD and Congress in UP).

Congress may want to use Hamid's presence, similar to Imran Masood's, to negotiate better at the seat-sharing table, as the party often faces criticisms for not having big leaders on the ground.

Also read: Uttar Pradesh: Imran Masood's Return Beneficial For Congress On Seat-Sharing Negotiation Table Within INDI Alliance