Denied ministerial berth,SP MLA says party helping BJP

In the two cabinet expansions since Akhilesh Yadav came

to power,14 ministers have been inducted and two elevated — but none from the Muslim community.

“I was not included in the ministry to please the BJP leaders. There is a tacit understanding between our leaders and the BJP. After 18 years of my loyalty with (SP chief) Mulayam Singh Yadav,I need an answer for the insult heaped upon me,” Ali said.

He,however,did not name Mulayam while linking the party with the BJP. “Whatever I am saying had already been said by (minsiter) Azam Khan when he was not in the party,” he added.

Ali did not attend a meeting at the party office on Friday and raised fingers at several ministers in the Akhilesh Yadav government.

“Aridaman Singh was in the BJP,he came and was made a minister. Naresh Agarwal’s son became minister on his return to the party after five years. What is the reward for my loyalty of 18 years?” he asked. “I took a stand against BJP stalwarts. Every BJP leader,from L K Advani to Rajnath Singh,Sushma Swaraj,Arun Jaitley,Vinay Katiyar,campaigned against me but I still won. I have developed into a possible threat to them and my leadership wants to remove me,” Ali said.

However,he praised Akhilesh and claimed that he was only angry with Mulayam. “My CM is lajawab,bemisal,bejod. I didn’t become a minister because of our leadership. I tried to meet Mulayam 16 times but in vain.”

Despite the disappointment,Ali said he will remain in the party and will go to meet Mulayam if summoned. “This is something within our family. I am dissatisfied and they have to listen to me,” he said and denied any information about his supporters torching Akhilesh’s effigy in Pathardeva. “How can I allow this? I had stopped everyone,” he said.

Meanwhile,protests in support of Ali continued Friday. His supporters raised slogans against the SP government in Gorakhpur.

Shakir Ali was first elected MLA in 1993 as a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate and was made cabinet minister with the portfolio of secondary education. Though Mulayam Singh was CM heading a SP-BSP combine government,Ali was then considered close to Mayawati.

Later,when Mayawati parted ways with Mulayam in 1995,Ali went with the latter resigning as a cabinet minister. In the 2003 SP government,he was made cabinet minister for minor irrigation and Waqf. Ali again won the seat in 2012 but was not included in Akhilesh’s ministry.