Expelled BJP Minority Morcha leader Usman Ghani arrested in Bikaner

Mr. Ghani had said he was disappointed with Mr. Modi’s observations that people’s wealth was going to be snatched and distributed to Muslims. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The Rajasthan police on Saturday arrested Bharatiya Janata Party Minority Morcha leader Usman Ghani, who was expelled from the party earlier this week, on charges of breach of peace by allegedly creating a ruckus at a police station in Bikaner. Mr. Ghani, booked under the preventive arrest provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code, was later produced before a Sub-Divisional Magistrate.

Mr. Ghani made headlines by criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks on “redistribution of wealth” at an election rally in Rajasthan’s Banswara Lok Sabha constituency recently. The BJP expelled him from the party’s primary membership for six years on charges of tarnishing its image on Wednesday.

Talking to a television news channel in New Delhi, Mr. Ghani had said he was disappointed with Mr. Modi’s observations that people’s wealth was going to be snatched and distributed to Muslims. “When I, as a BJP member, go to Muslims to seek their votes, they ask me about the PM’s remarks… I feel embarrassed. I am going to write to Mr. Modi with the request not to speak like this,” he said.

Mr. Ghani, who was earlier a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), had joined the BJP in 2005, and had served as the party’s Bikaner District Minority Morcha chief before his expulsion. He went to Mukta Prasad Nagar police station in the city on Saturday in connection with a complaint and allegedly entered into an altercation with the police officials. Police said Mr. Ghani was arrested under Section 151 of CrPC when he continued to fight with the policemen and did not relent despite attempts made to control him.

BJP State Minority Morcha president Hameed Khan Mewati told The Hindu that Mr. Ghani should have raised the issue of his displeasure at an “appropriate forum”. “Despite being an office-bearer of the party, he talked about his discontent over a certain matter on a wrong platform. It is incorrect to say that Muslims are being targeted in the BJP rule… They are benefiting from all the schemes of the Union government,” Mr. Mewati said.