Asheeq said he was resigning as Batu PKR chief and Federal Territories PKR Youth chief with immediate effect.

In a statement, he said he joined PKR shortly after the Pakatan Harapan government was toppled through the Sheraton Move in 2020 as he believed the party needed the energy and idealism of young people.

After more than half a term in government, he felt the party had drifted from the principles he believed in.

Asheeq, a lawyer and former student activist, also said he had become increasingly torn between his personal ideals and what he described as a growing culture of “political pragmatism” within the party.

He said he would also give two weeks’ notice to the federal territories minister regarding his resignation as chairman of the Batu parliamentary federal territories residents’ representative council.

Asheeq won the Batu PKR chief’s post in the party election last year after defeating Batu MP P Prabakaran by 153 votes.

Before contesting for the division chief’s post, he was PKR Youth’s legal and law bureau chief.

He was known as a student leader who spoke out on student issues between 2013 and 2015 and led several rallies during the Najib Razak administration.