Idris Ali (politician)

Idris Ali is an Indian politician and a Member of Parliament for the 16th Lok Sabha from Basirhat, West Bengal. He won the 2014 Indian general election as an All India Trinamool Congress candidate.

For the Egyptian author of the same name, see Idris Ali.

Idris Ali
ইদ্রিশ আলি
Member of the India Parliament
for Basirhat
In office
16 May 2014 – 23 May 2019
Preceded byHaji Sk. Nurul Islam
Succeeded byNusrat Jahan
Personal details
Born30 December 1950
Political partyIndian National Congress
Trinamool Congress
Children3
Residence5, Ripon lane, Kolkata- 700016, India[1]
Alma materSt. Paul's Cathedral Mission College -(BSc),
Surendranath Law College -(LL.B)
ProfessionLawyer, politician

Political career

Ali started his political career with Indian National Congress. In the 2014 Indian general election, he was elected as a member of parliament from the Basirhat seat on an All India Trinamool Congress ticket. He won by a margin of 109,000 votes.[2]

In January 2017, Ali lodged a police complaint for allegedly receiving a death threat in a phone call. He claimed that the caller was a Bengali from Dubai and had said that Ali would be killed for supporting the Trinamool Congress.[3]

On 13 March 2019, Mamata Banerjee announced that Ali would not contest the upcoming general election.[4]

Views

Ali has likened party president and chief minister Mamata Banerjee to Mahatma Gandhi. He said that like Gandhi, Banerjee was "a symbol of communal harmony and peace".[5] He has also equated Banerjee with the Hindu goddess Saraswati and the Christian missionary Mother Teresa for doing "developmental work".[6]

Ali has also said that the state of West Bengal and the country would burn if Banerjee was arrested in connection to the Saradha Group financial scandal. However, his party's secretary general secretary Partha Chatterjee said that the party did not support Ali's views.[7]

After the Pathankot attack, Ali said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had "links" with the terrorists. However, the spokesperson of the party Derek O'Brien said that Ali's comments were "not the view of the party".[8]

Controversy

Ali has been accused of inciting riots in the Park Circus area in 2007 while protesting against Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen. Though he was arrested and a charge sheet was filed against him, he was released on bail.[9]

References
  1. "Loksabha 2014". National election watch.
  2. "Eight Muslim MPs from West Bengal". TwoCircles.net. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  3. "TMC MP Idris Ali receives threat calls for stand against demonetisation". India Today. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  4. "Trinamul MPs who were not renominated". The Telegraph. 13 March 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  5. "Trinamool MP Idris Ali embarrasses party by comparing Mamata Banerjee with Gandhiji". India Today. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  6. "TMC MP Idris Ali equates Mamata Banerjee to Goddess Saraswati, Mother Teresa". DNA. 25 July 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  7. "TMC cautions MP Idris Ali for his West Bengal will burn comment". DNA. 1 January 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  8. "TMC warns Idris Ali after MP claims PM Modi has links with Pathankot terrorists". First post. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  9. "The Danga Gurus". Outlook India. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
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