Eye on minority votes, BJP reinducts Sabir Ali

The BJP on Thursday finally inducted former MP Sabir Ali in the party. Ali got the membership of BJP in presence of Bihar BJP co-in-charge Bhupendra Yadav at the party office here.More than a year ago, Ali had joined the BJP in Delhi but his entry was put under temporary suspension following stiff opposition by senior party leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. However, Naqvi later relented and the matter was defused.

Ali’s entry has come at a time when the party is in full electoral mode and its leaders have plunged into the poll arena for the October-November Assembly election. A BJP functionary said Ali has great organisational capability and his joining the party would attract Muslims.Ali said he was not sure what responsibility the party would give him but was ready to work tirelessly in Bihar election. “The BJP is definitely not a communal party. Some parties are trying to scare the Muslims by naming Narendra Modi but I will not let that happen. The Muslims are neitherv scared of the BJP nor that of Modi and they have started realising that the country has started developing under the PM,” said Ali. His supporters claimed that with Ali’s presence, the BJP will get a foothold in the Assembly constituencies where Muslims have a sizable presence.

The former MP, who had been a Muslim face of the lJP and then the JD(U), said he had decided to join the BJP long before when the party was not even in power in Delhi. “I believed that the country would reach to a height of prosperity under Modi. Though I was not a formal member of the BJP, I stuck to my pledge of taking this message to the Muslim community. And now I can say that the minorities have realised that Modi is doing everithing possible for the welfare of the people, including the minorities, without any discrimination,” he asserted.

Ali, who has also served as the president of the Delhi unit of JD(U) in 2013-14, led the party in two Assembly elections there. In the first election, one JD(U) candidate emerged victorious. An articulate Ali, who hails from East Champaran, said there had been no controversy over his joining the BJP and whatever misgivings were raised have been resolved.