BSP suspends Danish Ali for 'anti-party' activities, he says will continue to oppose BJP

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Saturday suspended its Lok Sabha member Danish Ali for "anti-party" activities. In a brief statement, the party's Uttar Pradesh unit said Ali, the MP from Amroha, has been suspended for anti-party activities.

The move comes after Ali walked out of Lok Sabha proceedings along with other Opposition members on Friday to protest the government's motion to expel Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra for "unethical conduct". Other BSP members remained seated in the house.

Ali has been actively joining Opposition ranks in attacking the BJP and its policies, though the Mayawati-led BSP has maintained its distance from both the ruling alliance and the Opposition.

In fact, immediately following her expulsion, Moitra stood on the steps of Parliament to issue a statement in which she referred to the incident in September in which BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri addressed Ali using highly Islamophobic language, and said no action had been taken against Bidhuri.

BSP general secretary Satish Chandra Misra said in a letter to Ali, "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) until 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.

The party charged him with forgetting the assurances he had given and indulging in anti-party activities. "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.

Soon after his suspension, Ali said he had never indulged in any kind of anti-party activities and only raised his voice against the BJP-led government's "anti-people" policies, asserting that if this was his "crime", he was ready to face punishment for it, adding that party supremo Mayawati's decision to suspend him was "unfortunate".

In a post written in Hindi on X following his suspension, Ali said he was grateful to Mayawati for giving him a party ticket and helping him become a member of the Lok Sabha. "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.

"The people of my Amroha area are witness to this. I have definitely opposed the anti-people policies of the BJP-led government and will continue to do so. I also raised my voice against looting by a few crony-capitalists and and will continue to do so. Because this is true public service," he said.

If doing this is a crime, Ali said, then he has committed this crime and is ready to face the punishment for it. "I want to assure the people of Amroha that I will always be at their service," he added.