Lok Sabha member Danish Ali, on whom BJP member Ramesh Bidhuri had heaped abuses on the floor of the House in September, was suspended from the BSP on Saturday for anti-party activities.

The Amroha MP said he was being punished for speaking out against industrialists close to the government who were being doled out airports and ports, but he did not name anyone.

BSP national general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra announced the suspension in a letter to Ali. But the letter does not cite specific instances of the anti-party activities he is accused of. All it says is that he made statements despite being told not to.

The suspension comes a day after Ali was seen outside Parliament House wearing a black banner that said: “Don’t turn victim into a culprit.”

Ali, a member of the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee that looked into the cash-for-query allegations against now-expelled Trinamul member Mahua Moitra, was pulled up by the panel in its report for “unruly conduct” during the meetings.

Explaining the reason for walking around with the banner, Ali had said he too had been named in the report – which recommended Moitra’s expulsion from the House -- for trying to ensure the Trinamul politician received a fair hearing.

Mishra’s letter details how Ali had been given the party ticket for Amroha at the request of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda. Ali has been a long-time associate of Gowda and was a member of the Janata Dal Secular till he joined the BSP ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

In a series of posts on X, Ali thanked BSP leader Mayawati for giving him the party ticket but described her decision to suspend him as unfortunate.

He said he had spoken out against the BJP’s anti-people policies and the loot of public resources by some industrialists.

“If this is a crime, then I have committed a crime. And, I am prepared to face the consequences,” he posted.

Questioned by the media, Ali did not identify the industrialists but dropped broad hints by referring to ports and airports being “doled out” to some select industrialist friends of the government.

Ali had been vocal about the lack of action against Bidhuri, who had hurled communally charged abuses at him in the Lok Sabha, and the way the Privileges Committee was handling his complaint and those of other Opposition MPs relating to the matter.

As a member of the Ethics Committee, Ali had picked up the cudgels for Moitra inside and outside the panel, putting himself in direct confrontation with the BJP.