Dissent over Article 370: BSP removes party leader in Lok Sabha, senior Congress leader resigns

Danish Ali is a BSP MP from Amroha and he was heading BSP team in the lower house. Danish Ali, a former Janata Dal (Secular) leader, had joined the BSP just ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
BSP chief Mayawati (File Photo | PTI)
BSP chief Mayawati (File Photo | PTI)

LUCKNOW: Amid voices of dissent emanating from different political parties, with most prominent ones in Congress, over their respective stand on abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, while BSP chief Mayawati removed Danish Ali as the leader of her parliamentary party in Lok Sabha here on Wednesday, a senior Congress leader and UPCC general secretary NP Singh of Meerut resigned from the grand old party taking a line different from his party over the issue.

Danish Ali is a BSP MP from Amroha and he was heading BSP team in the lower house. Danish Ali, a former Janata Dal (Secular) leader, had joined the BSP just ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Danish Ali has been replaced by Shyam Singh Yadav, the party MP from Jaunour in eastern UP. “The party has appointed its Jaunpur MP Shyam Singh Yadav, who comes from the backward class, has been appointed BSP parliamentary party leader in Lok Sabha,” said a press release issued by the party on Wednesday.

As per the highly-placed BSP sources, BSP chief’s axe fell Danish Ali after he allegedly aired his views contradicting his party’s stand on abrogation of Art 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. Moreover, the BSP chief appointed Ritesh Pandey, party MP from Ambedkarnagar as deputy leader of the party in the lower house and retained Girish Chandra Jatav as the chief whip.

Mayawati also changed the state unit chief of BSP. She appointed a Muslim face -- Munkad Ali -- party’s former Rajya Sabha member to head UP unit of the party replacing RS Kushwaha.

Meanwhile, Kushwaha was sent to central organisational committee as national general secretary parallel to Satish Chandra Mishra who is also representing the party in the upper house of Parliament.

On the other, cracks widened further in the grand old party, when  Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) general secretary NP Singh put in his papers as he was upset over the stand taken by the party on abrogation of Art 370 by the Modi government.

A resident of Meerut, Singh sent his resignation letter to UPCC chief Raj Babbar hours after the government got a Bill passed to repeal Article 370 and J& K reorganisation Bill that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcate the state into two Union Territories.

“In view of the stand taken by the Congress party on the scrapping of Articles 370 and 35(A) which is against the national interest and also against unity and integrity of our country, I resign from the post of general secretary of UPCC and also from the party’s primary membership with immediate effect,” Singh wrote in his letter.

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