After the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Saturday suspended its MP Danish Ali for alleged “anti-party” activities, the Amroha MP called the decision “unfortunate”.
“…Her (BSP chief Mayawati) decision is unfortunate. I have never engaged in any kind of anti-party activities. The people of my Amroha are witness to this. I have opposed the anti-people policies of the BJP’s government and will continue to do so…If doing this is a crime, then I have committed this crime, and I am ready to face the punishment for it.”
The party’s Uttar Pradesh unit, in a statement said Ali, BSP MP from Amroha, has been suspended for anti-party activities.
The development comes a day after Ali walked out of Lok Sabha proceedings along with other opposition members on Friday to protest against the government’s motion to expel Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra for “unethical conduct”. While Ali walked out, other BSP members were seated in the Lok Sabha.
Ali has been actively joining opposition ranks in attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its policies even though the Mayawati-led BSP has maintained a distance from both the ruling alliance as well as the opposition.
In a letter to Ali, the party’s general secretary Satish Chandra Misra said, “You were told verbally many times that you should not make any statement or take any action against the policies, ideology and discipline of the party, but despite this you have been continuously acting against the party.”
Misra reminded Ali that he was a member of HD Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal (Secular) till 2018.
“… on the request of Deve Gowda, you were given a ticket from Amroha as a candidate of the Bahujan Samaj Party and before giving this ticket, Gowda had given an assurance that you will always follow all the policies and instructions of the Bahujan Samaj Party and will work in the interest of the party,” the letter read.
“Therefore, now, in the interest of the party, you are suspended from the membership of the Bahujan Samaj Party with immediate effect,” the letter, in Hindi said.
Ali recently made national headlines, after being the target of one of the most unseemly exchanges in the new Parliament building. He had written letters to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for action against BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri over remarks made by Bidhuri regarding him, during the debate in the Lok Sabha on the Chandrayaan 3 mission.
Following the incident, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had met Ali at his residence in the national capital.
“Nafrat ke Bazaar mein Mohabbat ki Dukan (Shop of love in the market of hate),” Rahul, MP from Kerala’s Wayanad, told reporters after the interaction.