On 7th October, Imran Masood – controversial former leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party known for his anti-Hindu and anti-Modi comments – returned to Congress. On 29th August, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) expelled Imran Masood for indulging in anti-party activities. The action was taken against him after he praised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Masood, who joined BSP in October 2022 after quitting the Samajwadi Party (SP), made headlines in 2014 for threatening to ‘cut Prime Minister Narendra Modi into small pieces’. He was a Congress leader at that time.
Maran Masood joined the Congress along with his supporters in Delhi. KC Venugopal, general secretary (organisation) of Congress, gave him the membership. Before the 2022 UP assembly elections, Imran Masood left the Congress and joined the Samajwadi Party, but he did not get a ticket in the 2022 assembly elections. He left the SP and joined the BSP. Imran Masood praised Rahul Gandhi while in BSP, due to which the party expelled him.
About joining the Congress party, Imran Masood said, “In the current situation, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi did Bharat Jodo Yatra. An era of transformation started after that. Right now, we see that the politics in the country is around two distinct poles viz. the BJP and the opposition to the BJP. And the politics of opposing the BJP depends on Congress only. I was in the Congress party in the past. I had a nice working experience at the party. Unfortunately, for 1-1.5 years I was not a part of the party. Now I am doing ‘ghar wapsi’.”
He added, “2024 is an important election for both the BJP and the opposition. Both sides are preparing very hard for this battle. It will be a tough electoral fight in the country. Everyone will give their whole contribution to this cause. Unemployment is at its peak. Youths are worried. New issues appear to divert their attention. So that the youths do not ask about jobs, farmers do not ask about the crop price. The BJP came to power by making false promises and now they are finding it difficult to face the people.”
When asked about roaming around in other parties and coming back to Congress, he said, “It is futile to discuss the past. Now I am joining the Congress party with new enthusiasm. It is like I am starting a new innings altogether. Priyanka ji cares for me.”
Masood said if BSP did not join the alliance (with I.N.D.I.Alliance), it would miserably lose (the Lok Sabha) elections. Following his expulsion from the party, his brother Noman Masood was expelled for similar reasons.
Imran Masood threatened to chop PM Narendra Modi into pieces
Imran Masood was contesting the Lok Sabha election from Saharanpur in UP in 2014, and during an election rally, he had said, “Narendra Modi se kaun ladega? Jo thok ke jawab dena jaane Modi *&*#@ ko.” (Who will fight against Modi? The one who knows how to give it back to this &@*&# Modi).
He had then added, “Who Gujarat samaj raha hai, 4% Musalman hai Gujrat mei, yaha 42% Musalman hai. Yaha Gujarat bana denge, @#$@# ko boti boti kaat denge… choti choti…” (he thinks this is Gujarat, Gujarat has 4% Muslims, here Muslims are 42%, we will make Gujarat here, will chop @#$@# in small pieces).
Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, PM Narendra Modi had evoked the ‘boti boti’ threat of Imran Masood during an election rally in Saharanpur. He had said, “Here (in Saharanpur), there is one individual who threatens to cut [me] into pieces. He is the favourite of the Shehzada of Congress… he (Rahul) loves him (Imran) a lot.” The PM had then said, “Remember, they are the ones who threaten ‘boti-boti’ and we are here to ensure safety and honour of ‘beti-beti’ (every daughter).”
Following his hate speech, Masood was arrested in March 2014. But keeping in tradition with rewarding hate speech, in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Imran Masood contested on a Congress ticket from Saharanpur’s Nakur seat which he lost to BJP’s Dharam Singh Saini. After that, in June 2017, he had threatened forceful agitations by Dalits and Muslims against the Yogi Adityanath government. Congress too had supported Masood’s stand on the issue. “Imran is our leader and we support the stand that he has taken locally,” Uttar Pradesh Congress President Raj Babbar had said.
Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Imran Masood was made part of the Congress party’s election committee in Uttar Pradesh. He was also made the party candidate for Saharanpur, which he had lost and had come third in terms of votes after BSP and BJP candidates. Masood was also seen in the luxury bus with Priyanka Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Jyotiraditya Scindia during Priyanka Gandhi’s first roadshow in Lucknow in 2019.
Prior to joining Congress, Masood was with Samajwadi Party. He was declared the Lok Sabha candidate for Samajwadi Party from Saharanpur in September 2013. However, in March 2014 he defected to Congress and contested from the Saharanpur seat on a Congress ticket.