BSP removes Danish Ali as its leader in LS, makes other changes in party

Days after he was appointed the leader of BSP in Lok Sabha, Danish Ali was on Wednesday stripped of his post by the party which said it had been done toeing its 'sarvajan hitaaye, sarvajan sukhaaye' policy and to give greater representation to OBCs.

Jaunpur MP Shyam Singh Yadav will replace Ali, who was elected from Amroha on a BSP ticket in the 2019 general election after he dumped the JD(S) and switched over to the Mayawati-led party.

In the major organisation reshuffle, the BSP made a Yadav its parliamentary party leader in Lok Sabha and appointed Ambedkar Nagar MP Ritesh Pandey as its deputy leader in the house.

The move comes ahead of bye-polls for 12 assembly seats in UP, which will see BSP contesting against SP for the first time after the collapse of their alliance forged before the Lok Sabha election.

The BSP also made its former Rajya Sabha MP Munquad Ali its Uttar Pradesh unit president, the party said a statement.

"Bahujan Samaj Party is a party, which believes in sarvajan hitaaye, sarvajan sukhaaye. UP is the most populous state in the country, and as a result, there is a need to make some state-level changes in the organisation," it said.

Ali replaces RS Kushwaha, who has been made general secretary of the party's central unit.

"Munquad Ali had started his politics with the BSP, and has stood by the party during hours of happiness and sorrow. He has been discharging his responsibility with full dedication and is still doing it," the statement said.

The party termed Kushwaha a "disciplined" worker who had been implementing its every instruction with "full honesty".

The appointment of a Muslim leader as the UP unit president assumes significance in view of BSP's decision to support the Centre's move to scrap provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution.

On Tuesday, Mayawati said her party expects the people of Jammu and Kashmir will benefit from the Central government's decision to end the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

Due to this decision, she said, the Buddhist followers of B R Ambedkar were happy.

Girishchandra Jatav will continue to be the party's chief whip in Lok Sabha, the statement added.