Suspended BSP MP Danish Ali joins Rahul’s yatra: ‘Will fail in my duty if I didn’t join the biggest drive for unity and justice’
Ali was also the target of BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri’s communal slurs on the floor of Lok Sabha in September. That matter is before the parliament’s Privileges Committee.
5 min read
The purpose of Rahul Gandhi's Yatra is to get justice for the marginalised and the exploited sections, Danish Ali said in a post on X. (X/@DanishAli)Signaling his intent to join the Congress in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls this year, suspended BSP MP Kunwar Danish Ali joined Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ that began from Manipur on Sunday.
“I feel I would be failing in my duty as a politician and a social worker if I did not join the biggest drive for unity and justice,” he said on joining the over 6,700-km-long yatra that will conclude in Mumbai in March.
In a series of posts on X before joining the yatra, Ali wrote, “Today, I have decided to join Shri Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. This is a very important moment for me. I have arrived here after much soul searching. In the atmosphere prevailing in the country, I had two options… Either to accept the status quo and ignore the exploitation of Dalits, backwards, tribals, minorities, and other marginalised and the poor sections, or to launch an all-out campaign against this atmosphere of fear, hate, exploitation and the deepening divide in the country.”
Today, I have decided to join Shri Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. This is a very important moment for me. I have arrived here after much soul searching. In the atmosphere prevailing in the country, I had two options. 1/7 pic.twitter.com/TKvJv46YSI
— Kunwar Danish Ali (@KDanishAli) January 14, 2024
“My conscience pushed me to take the second option. Taking this decision came naturally to me as I was myself at the receiving end of a similar attack in Parliament, where swear words were used by a member of the ruling party against me and my religion,” wrote Ali on X.
On December 9, Ali, the BSP MP from Amroha in Uttar Pradesh, was suspended by party president Mayawati for “anti-party activities”. The BSP action against Ali came a day after the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee recommended 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. The Committee, chaired by BJP member Vinod Kumar Sonkar, also admonished Danish Ali for violating the “confidentiality of proceedings of Parliamentary committees”.
Opposition MPs, including Ali, had objected to panel chairman Sonkar’s line of questioning at the last meeting earlier this month. He along with Moitra and four members of the Opposition — Congress’s Uttam Kumar Reddy and V Vaithilingam, CPM’s P R Natarajan, and JD(U)’s Giridhari Yadav — had walked out of the panel’s meeting on November 2 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 Lok Sabha in September. That matter is before the parliament’s Privileges Committee.
The same evening, Rahul Gandhi had met Ali and supported him. Congress sources had earlier told The Indian Express that Ali had remained in touch with Rahul’s team after the meeting.
Today, by joining @RahulGandhi ji’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, we sounded the trumpet of the struggle for justice and unity. This journey is a struggle to give the poor, deprived and exploited class their rights and improve their lives. @bharatjodo pic.twitter.com/okxx2psbB7
— Kunwar Danish Ali (@KDanishAli) January 14, 2024
Writing about Bidhuri’s use of slurs against him in Parliament, Ali said, “My call for justice and action against the guilty member of Parliament fell on deaf ears. Instead of punishing my attacker, the ruling establishment rewarded him. I have realised that the attack on me was part of a larger plan to create an atmosphere of fear and hate in the country. In that hour of distress, Rahul Gandhi ji was the first leader to express solidarity and stand by me and my family. The purpose of Rahul Gandhi ji’s yatra is to get justice for the marginalised and exploited section.”
Regarding Rahul Gandhi’s yatra, Ali wrote, “This yatra is a call for action against divisive forces. This yatra is a drive to unite the people of our country against fear, hate, exploitation, and divisiveness.”
“I have decided to join him in this yatra because I feel I would be failing in my duty as a politician and a social worker if I did not join the biggest drive for unity and justice. I pray for the success of this yatra and for the future of my country,” he wrote, and posted photos of him with Rahul.
Ali has had a topsy-turvy relationship with the BSP leadership. After the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the party appointed him as chief whip in the Lok Sabha and hours before the first session of Parliament, he was elevated to the post of party leader in the Lower House. However, that August, Jaunpur MP Shyam Singh Yadav replaced Ali only for the Amroha MP to be reappointed three months later. In January 2020, he was replaced again, this time by Ambedkar Nagar MP Ritesh Pandey.
You May Like
