The Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Saturday suspended its Lok Sabha MP Danish Ali from the party for engaging in “anti-party” activities.
The move came a day after Ali walked out of the lower house along with other opposition members to protest against the government’s motion to expel Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, even as other BSP members remained seated in the house.
"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,” BSP general secretary Satish Chandra Misra said in a letter to Ali.
Misra reminded Ali that he was a member of H.D. Deve Gowda's Janata Dal (Secular) till 2018 and it was on the request of the veteran leader that he was given ticket as a BSP candidate from Amroha constituency.
"... 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 said.
"However, having forgotten the assurance, you are swamped with anti-party activities. Hence, you are suspended from the membership of the party in the interest of it, with an immediate effect,” it further said.
Ali, who was a member of the ethics committee which recommended Moitra’s expulsion over the cash-for-query allegations, had earlier walked out of the panel meeting, protesting the nature of questions that were asked to the TMC MP by panel chief Vinod Kumar Sonkar.
"We believe the report is incomplete, because the deposition was not completed. Five MPs walked out and the report was adopted in two-and-a-half minutes. We want a discussion on this. The walkout by MPs was because they were asking filthy questions. It is there in the minutes (of the meeting)," Ali said on Friday after the Lok Sabha adopted the committee report.
Unfortunate, says Ali
Reacting to his suspension, Ali said he never indulged in any kind of anti-party activities and only raised his voice against the BJP-led government's "anti-people" policies.
If doing this is a crime, Ali said, he has committed this crime and is ready to face the punishment for it.
"She (Mayawati) also made me the leader of BSP parliamentary party. I always received her immense affection and support. Her decision today is unfortunate. I did all the hard work, worked diligently to strengthen the BSP and never indulged in any kind of anti-party activities," he said.
It may be noted that BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri’s derogatory remarks against Ali had recently stirred up a political storm with the BSP MP threatening to quit parliament is no action was taken against Bidhuri.
BSP supremo Mayawati and the entire opposition had extended their support to Ali over the issue, though a few BJP MPs accused him of instigating Bidhuri.
