Lakhnow- Shafiqur Rahman Barq, the oldest MP in Parliament and a veteran politician from Uttar Pradesh, died on Tuesday at a private hospital in Moradabad after a prolonged illness. He was 94 years old.
Barq, who represented the Sambhal Lok Sabha constituency, had been suffering from various health issues for a long time and was admitted to the hospital on Monday night. His grandson, Ziaur Rahman Barq, confirmed his demise.
Barq had a long and illustrious career in politics, spanning over six decades. He started his political journey in 1967, when he contested the state assembly elections from Sambhal as a BSP candidate. He won his first assembly seat in 1974 and went on to become an MLA four times from different parties, including Janata Party, Lok Dal, and Janata Dal. He also served as the Minister of Homeguards in Mulayam Singh Yadav's government in 1989.
He made his debut in parliamentary politics in 1996, when he won the Muradabad Lok Sabha seat as a Janata Dal candidate. He retained the seat in 1998 and 2004 as a Samajwadi Party MP. In 2009, he switched to the Bahujan Samaj Party and won the Sambhal Lok Sabha seat. He rejoined the Samajwadi Party in 2014 and won the Sambhal seat again in 2019 as part of the SP-BSP-RLD alliance. He was the most senior politician in the region in terms of age and experience.
Barq was known for his staunch views on issues concerning the Muslim community and his opposition to the national song "Vande Mataram". He was also the coordinator of the Babri Masjid Action Committee and a vocal critic of the BJP and its policies.
Barq's death has left a void in the Samajwadi Party and the politics of Uttar Pradesh. His funeral will be held in his native village of Baragaon in Sambhal district. Several political leaders, including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, BSP supremo Mayawati, and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, have expressed their condolences and paid tribute to the departed leader.
