New Delhi : In a bid to strengthen its campaign against the Nitish-Laloo combine, the BJP on Thursday got back Sabir Ali into the party fold after more than a year and half. Ali, a former JDU MP and close confidante of Nitish Kumar, had joined BJP before the Lok Sabha polls but his membership was suspended the very next day after a public outcry from Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and few other leaders.
In a hurriedly called press conference at the BJP Patna office, general secretary in-charge Bhupendra Yadav welcomed Ali and announced that the suspension of his membership had been revoked.
Close sources said Ali had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi three days back after which the stage was set for his comeback. He would be the Muslim face of the party in the ongoing election campaign apart from Shahnawaz Hussain. The party has recently nominated senior journalist and BJP spokesman MJ Akbar to Rajya Sabha. Akbar is also a native of Bihar.
Sabir Ali had been trying to re-join the party for some months now after being in the wilderness following the controversy over his joining BJP earlier. His return, however, was stalled by some senior RSS leaders.
Ali is influential in the Bhojpuri speaking districts of Bihar, particularly in Motihari, Siwan, Sasaram, Chhapra apart from Kishanganj, Darbhanga and Madhubani districts which have a sizeable Muslim population.
