Imran Masood returns to Congress after BSP expels the leader

Imran Masood, an influential yet controversial political leader of the Saharanpur district of western Uttar Pradesh, returned to the Congress on Saturday, months after he was expelled from the BSP.

Masood, an important leader from the Muslim community, had put up a spirited fight against BJP as the Congress candidate from Saharanpur in both 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls, even though he lost on both occasions.

He was caught in a controversy during the 2014 election when he was arrested on charge of "hate speech" after a video clip surfaced in which he was purportedly heard threatening to harm the BJP's thenPM candidate Narendra Modi.


Ahead of the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly election, Masood dramatically pole-vaulted from the Congress into the SP camp, only to soon desert Akhilesh Yadav's party to join the Mayawati-led BSP.