Patna: Eyeing a slice of minority votes in the forthcoming Bihar Assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday re-inducted former Rajya Sabha member Sabir Ali to its fold.
Welcoming Ali, a native of East Champaran district in the state, the Bihar in-charge of BJP Bhupendra Yadav said, "Ali has fought much against discrimination towards the minority community and now wants to contribute to the cause further by joining BJP. We welcome him."
Yadav said the policies of BJP champion socio-economic inclusion of the poor and ensure social justice for all communities and classes in the society, which is attracting people to the party.
Ali was a Janata Dal United MP till March 2014, when he was expelled from the party for praising Narendra Modi, the then prime ministerial candidate of BJP.
He joined BJP on March 28, but was expelled the very next day after his induction faced severe criticism within the party, especially from party vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who in his tweet had insinuated that he had links with arrested Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal.
Ali filed a defamation case against Naqvi, but withdrew it later after the two arrived on an out of court settlement.
Asked about his tiff with saffron leaders, Naqvi said he had been working with BJP all along and there were no differences with anybody anymore.
"BJP is a very big party and my heart is also very big in comparison to any small comment made on me. Naqvi apologised that there was some misunderstanding, misconception and I withdrew the case," he added.
Ali also said that he has no plans to contest in the Assembly polls and he will do whatever work his party allots to him.
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