Lok Sabha MP Danish Ali, who was suspended from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), joined the Congress on Wednesday ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. This comes five days after Ali met former Congress president Sonia Gandhi at her 10 Janpath residence in the national capital and sought her ‘blessings’.
According to reports, the grand old party is likely to field Ali as its candidate for the Amroha constituency in Uttar Pradesh, the seat Congress bargained from the Samajwadi Party in their seat-sharing talks.
Danish Ali's previous hints on joining Congress
After meeting Sonia Gandhi on March 14, Ali dropped a massive hint on social media about him joining the Congress. “Honoured to get blessings of epitome of sacrifice, Smt Sonia Gandhi for my 2nd Lok Sabha Election from Amroha. Her heart beats for India's poor…It was the National Advisory Council (NAC) headed by her that piloted landmark pro-poor AND transparency laws like MNREGA, RTI, Right to Education, Food Security Bill,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Danish Ali also joined Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra at its starting point in Manipur, saying he would be “failing in his duty as a politician if he did not become a part of the biggest drive for unity and justice”. “This is a very important moment for me. I have arrived here after much soul-searching. I had two options – either to accept the status quo and ignore the exploitation of Dalits, backwards, tribals, minorities and other marginalised and poor sections, or to launch an all-out campaign against this atmosphere of fear, hate, exploitation and the deepening divide in the country,” he had tweeted at that time.
{{/usCountry}}Danish Ali also joined Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra at its starting point in Manipur, saying he would be “failing in his duty as a politician if he did not become a part of the biggest drive for unity and justice”. “This is a very important moment for me. I have arrived here after much soul-searching. I had two options – either to accept the status quo and ignore the exploitation of Dalits, backwards, tribals, minorities and other marginalised and poor sections, or to launch an all-out campaign against this atmosphere of fear, hate, exploitation and the deepening divide in the country,” he had tweeted at that time.
{{/usCountry}}He again joined Gandhi in the Yatra when it passed through his constituency Amroha in UP.
Danish Ali's suspension from BSP
The BSP suspended Ali from the party last year for indulging in “anti-party activities”, days after he walked out of the Lok Sabha proceedings along with other Opposition members to protest against the decision to expel TMC member Mahua Moitra. During that time, other BSP members remained seated in the House.
In an official notice to Ali, the BSP said: “It was made clear to you earlier itself to not indulge in anti-party activities… However, it seems you have forgotten the promises made by you while joining the party. Therefore, you are being suspended.”
(With inputs from agencies)