Ahead of polls, JD(S) general secretary Danish Ali joins BSP

Ahead of Lok Sabha election, Janata Dal (Secular) general secretary Danish Ali, a close aide of party supremo HD Deve Gowda, joined the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on March 16 in the presence of BSP national general secretary Satish Mishra in Lucknow. Ali was the party’s face in Delhi for over 20 years.

Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy took to Twitter to clarify the development and said, “Danish Ali, the JDS general secretary, has joined the BSP in consent with me and our national president Sri HD Devegowda in a purely political arrangement between the two parties. It is a thoughtful political decision taken by JDS and BSP to win more seats in the Loksabha elections.”

The development comes two days after the ruling Congress-JD(S) coalition finalised its seat-sharing agreement for 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka. JD(S) will contest in eight seats and Congress in 20.

Commenting on the development, Ali told ANI, “JD(S) doesn’t have a large organisation structure in UP. Despite all my efforts, I could not have raised it [JD(S)] in my ‘janmabhoomi, my ‘karmabhoomi’. The way in which there is a threat to the constitution today, it has become essential to use our energy with a strong leadership.”

JD(S) and BSP had entered into a pre-poll alliance ahead of the Karnataka assembly elections held in 2018. BSP opened its account, winning one seat from Kollegal. N Mahesh of BSP had defeated the Congress candidate with 19,454 votes. Ali’s departure will certainly lower the morale of the party in the state. Some media reports indicate Ali will contest from Amroha in Uttar Pradesh on a BSP ticket.