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Journalism of Courage
A JAMIA MILLIA Islamia alumni, active in politics since student days and a vocal advocate of the causes he believes in, Danish Ali, who was suspended from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) over “anti-party activities”, first made his name far from the national stage and even native Uttar Pradesh.
During the 2017 Assembly elections in Karnataka. Ali’s name had surfaced as the main force and face behind a JD(S) and Congress post-poll alliance. Trusted by JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda, and general secretary of the party, Ali, just 42 at the time, was named the convenor of the five-member Coalition Coordination and Monitoring Committee the two parties set up, as they ran a short-lived JD(S)-Congress government.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, when Danish Ali stood on a BSP ticket from Amroha in UP, not very far from his native Hapur, he said it was with the consent of the JD(S) leadership. Despite it being his first electoral contest, and the BJP’s massive win from the state, Ali had won big from Amroha – a constituency dominated by Muslims, and housing a substantial number of Dalits. He had secured about 51% of the votes, defeating sitting BJP MP Kunwar Singh Tanwar by a margin of over 63,000.
Reacting to BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri’s remarks against Ali in the Lok Sabha on Thursday night – now expunged by the Lok Sabha Speaker – BSP chief Mayawati said the BJP’s failure to act against Bidhuri was “dukhad (sad)” and “durbhagya purna (unfortunate)”. “Although the Speaker has removed the objectionable remarks made by the BJP MP from Delhi against BSP MP Sri Danish Ali from the records of the House, and also warned him, and a senior minister has apologised, it is sad that the party has not yet taken appropriate action against him,” Mayawati said.
It was his stint as president of the Yuva Janata Dal as well as the Chhatra Janata Dal during his days at Jamia Millia Islamia that is believed to have steered Ali towards the JD(S).
Since moving to the BSP, Ali has held his own. In a party where Mayawati has the first and the last word, he is known to speak his mind on issues, whether at his constituency or in Delhi, and has quickly emerged as the minority face of the BSP in national politics. For a while, Ali also headed the 10-member BSP Legislature Party in the Lok Sabha.
Recently, opposing the idea of one nation, one election, for which the Modi government has set up a panel, Ali said: “Since they have nothing left to say, they have brought in one nation, one election. Then, one nation, one religion; one nation, one leader; one nation, one industrialist. Are they going to run the country like this?… If you touch the Constitution, you cannot remain in power in this country.”
Known for ties beyond party lines, last month Ali created ripples when he met JD(U) chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Bihar, before the INDIA meeting. The BSP is not a part of the INDIA bloc. Ali later clarified that the visit was personal, and that he had known Nitish since his days as a student leader.
Ali had criticised the Uttar Pradesh BJP government after the video surfaced of a school principal coaxing students to beat a Muslim child. Questioning the “mild” action against the principal, Ali had asked: “Where is Yogi’s bulldozer in this case?”
As per PRS Legislative Research data, Ali is an active parliamentarian, recording 98% attendance and participating in way more debates than the national average.
Incidentally, it is not Ali’s first public altercation with a BJP leader in the recent past. On August 6, he had a heated argument during an event to mark the launch of upgradation of the Amroha Railway Station, when BJP MLC Hari Singh Dhillon shouted the slogan “Bharat Mata ki Jai” during his speech. Ali, who was present on the dais, objected to the same, saying “it is not a BJP event”.
As the crowd present also started raising the slogan, it turned into a heated argument between the two leaders, captured on camera. Further clash was avoided after the officials present intervened.
While Ali later sought to clarify that he only objected to BJP leaders turning official programmes into party events, the BJP raised the issue three days later during the Monsoon Session of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council, of which Dhillan is a member.
BJP MLC Umesh Dwivedi moved a motion of censure against Ali for “objecting to Bharat Mata ki Jai”, supported by party members, including Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya. In his speech, Maurya said: “Bharat Mata ki Jai bolne par koi virodh karta hai, UP ki dharti par toh ninda honi chahiye (UP must condemn anyone who objects to the slogan of Bharat Mata ki Jai).” The motion was accepted by Chairman Manvendra Singh, saying: “This House will always condemn the one who refuses this slogan.”
