Usman Ghani, who was the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Minority Morcha district president in Rajasthan’s Bikaner, was expelled from the party on April 24. He was reportedly arrested by the Rajasthan Police, several reports claimed on Saturday.
Actions were taken against Ghani after he reportedly expressed disapproval of Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s recent remarks in Rajasthan, related to the Muslim community. A video of him criticizing PM Modi on camera had gone viral earlier this week.
The Congress also took to social media to share the viral video.
What’s in the viral video?
In the purported video, the person, who claimed to be a district president of the BJP’s Minority Morcha, said that “being a Muslim”, he didn’t like the comment PM Modi made during his speech in Rajasthan.
He could be heard saying that PM Modi is not the only member of the party and that “crores” of Muslims are joined with the BJP.
He said that when he “goes to Muslims to seek votes” for the BJP, the community people talk about the kind of remarks made by the PM and “look for answers” from him.
He dismissed PM Modi’s claim as “non-sensical” and said, “I am going to write to PM Modi…”
The video shows that he made the claims while speaking with a news channel. In the one-on-one interview, the person mentioned that he was a BJP district president from Bikaner. “I am a Muslim and president of the Minority Morcha,” he added.
Disclaimer: Mint couldn’t independently verify the video or claims
While addressing a rally in Rajasthan’s Banswara, PM Modi had said that if the Congress came to power, it would “redistribute” wealth to Muslims. He had also alleged that Congress plans to give the people’s hard-earned money and valuables to the “infiltrators” and “those who have more children”.
Usman Ghani was expelled and arrested
Usman Ghani was the Bikaner BJP Minority Morcha district president, news agency PTI reported. After the video of Ghani surfaced on social media, BJP state disciplinary committee chairman Onkar Singh Lakhawat was quoted as saying that an attempt was made by Usman Ghani to “tarnish” the image of the party in the media.
“The party took cognizance of the act of Usman Ghani to tarnish its image and expelled him from the primary membership of the party for six years, considering it a breach of discipline,” Lakhawat said in a statement cited by PTI.
Three days later on Saturday, April 27, Hindustan reported that the Rajasthan Police arrested Ghani. He was held on the “charges of breach of peace”, Patrika reported.
Who is Usman Ghani?
According to Hindustan report, Ghani had joined the BJP in 2005. Before this, he was a Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) worker
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Published: 27 Apr 2024, 09:21 PM IST