Kunwar Danish Ali, BSP MP from Amroha in Uttar Pradesh, was suspended Saturday by party president Mayawati for “anti-party activities”.
The BSP moved against Ali a day after the Lok Sabha Ethics Committeewhile calling for the expulsion of TMC MP Mahua Moitra after finding her “guilty of unethical conduct” during its probe into the cash-for-query allegations against her, said Ali should be admonished “for twisting/moulding the intent of question” put to Moitra by the committee chairperson.
A member of the committee, Ali was one of the five Opposition MPs who protested what they said were “undignified and unethical” questions put to Moitra. Ali was also the target of BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri's communal slurs on the floor of the Lok Sabha in September. That matter is before the Privileges Committee.
In August, Ali created ripples when he met JD(U) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar before the INDIA meeting. The BSP is not a part of the INDIA bloc. Ali later clarified that the visit was personal, and that he had known Nitish Kumar since his days as a student leader.
A former JD(S) leader, Ali was elected MP on the BSP ticket in 2019 when the BSP contested in alliance with the SP.
Sources in BSP said the way Ali supported Moitra and made statements in public had upset the party leadership.
In the suspension letter addressed to Ali, BSP national general secretary Satish Chandra Misra said, “Several times you were asked verbally to not act and make any statement against the policies, ideology and discipline of the party. But despite that, you are continuously acting against the party.”
In the letter, the BSP reminded Ali that he had been working as a member of H D Deve Gowda’s party until the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections and the BSP had given him a ticket in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls after Deve Gowda’s assurance that he (Ali) would always follow the policies and directions of the BSP and work in its interest.
“You too had given that assurance and after that only you were made a member of the BSP, you were made to contest from Amroha and sent to Lok Sabha but you forgot your assurances and indulged in anti-party activities. Hence, in the interest of the party, you are now being suspended from BSP’s membership with immediate effect,” Misra said in the two-page letter to Ali.
Ali rejected the allegations against him and called his suspension unfortunate. “I will always be grateful to Behan Mayawatiji for giving me a BSP ticket and supporting me in becoming a member of Lok Sabha. Behanji also appointed me leader of the BSP legislature group. I always got her affection and support. Her decision today is unfortunate,” he told media persons.
“I diligently tried to strengthen the BSP and never did any kind of anti-party work. The people of Amroha area are witness to his. I have definitely opposed the anti-people policies of the BJP government and will continue to do so,” he said.
Ali said he had always raised his voice against “looting of public properties by a few selected capitalists” and he will continue doing so because that is real public service.
“If doing this is a crime then I have committed this crime, and I am ready to be punished for it. I want to assure the people of Amroha that I will always be at your service,” he said.
On the expulsion of Moitra from Lok Sabha a day earlier, Ali said, “The kind of decision taken in the matter of Mahua Moitraji, I found it my responsibility to stand against injustice to a women parliamentarian… in the Ethics Committee and yesterday too.”
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
First published on: 09-12-2023 at 20:55 IST
