Suspended BSP leader Danish Ali joins Congress

Suspended Bahujan Samaj Party leader and Lok Sabha MP Danish Ali joined the Congress on Wednesday in the presence of senior party leaders.

After joining the party in New Delhi, he said going by the prevailing situation in the country, it is important to join the Congress in the fight against "divisive" forces.

"On one side are divisive forces and on the other are those forces fighting to get nyay (justice) for the poor and oppressed sections of society, and the choice is very clear," Ali said, asserting that the time has come to decide where one stands.

"If we have to fight against divisive forces, then one has to strengthen the Congress under the leadership of Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi," he said.

"The ideology with which we started our politics... we have to now strengthen the forces fighting against those divisive forces. That is why I took this important decision while charting my future political journey by becoming a member of the Indian National Congress," he told reporters.

Ali, who is the sitting MP from Amroha in Uttar Pradesh, was suspended by the BSP for alleged anti-party activities. He is set to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Amroha on a Congress ticket.

AICC in-charge for Uttar Pradesh Avinash Pande, who was also present at the joining event, welcomed Ali into the party fold. Pande said the party would benefit with the coming of Ali, who has been involved in politics since his student days. Ali had also joined the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Uttar Pradesh and Manipur.

The MP was earlier with the Janata Dal (Secular) and is a former Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka.