Last December, weeks after he was taken back into the Samajwadi Party (SP) and declared its candidate in Sultanpur, only to be shifted to Shrawasti later, Atiq Ahmed drove into the constituency in a cavalcade of hundreds of vehicles, allegedly accompanied with gun-toting supporters. Ahmed has dismissed these claims.
While the people of Sultanpur were shocked by the show of strength, those who knew the leader from Allahabad were not.
Mr. Ahmed, 51, an alleged don-turned-politician, faces 42 criminal cases, including one for the murder of Raju Pal, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA, in 2005. Other cases are of criminal intimidation, attempt to murder, abduction and extortion. He has been out on bail since February 2012 after four years in prison. He was the first person to be booked under the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986.
The fifth phase of the election in the State on May 7 will decide the fate of Mr. Ahmed and many other tainted leaders, most from the SP.
Speaking to The Hindu on his way to a campaign meeting at Shrawasti, Mr. Ahmed said he hoped to convert the “negative publicity” into a winning formula, backed by a favourable Muslim-Yadav caste equation in the constituency. “The media publicity I have as a mafia don has helped increase my popularity. Badnaam hi sahi, popular toh ban rahe hai [Even if I have a bad name, it has made me popular],” Mr. Ahmed said.
Shrawasti, on the Nepal border, is a backward constituency with poor infrastructure. Mr. Ahmed has promised to convert the constituency into a tourist hub. At a recent public meeting in Balrampur, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh promised to provide a “special package” to the constituency.
“Development is a key issue, but my priority is to make Mulayam Singh Prime Minister,” Mr. Ahmed said. “So every seat is precious.”
Mr. Ahmed, who won the Phulpur seat in 2004, faces sitting Congress MP Vinay Kumar Pandey, who has five declared criminal cases against him.
In Faizabad, SP MLA from Bikapur, Mitrasen Yadav, who has 15 criminal cases against him and convictions, is taking on Pradesh Congress Committee president Nirmal Khatri, MP.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded Lallu Singh, an accused in the Babri Masjid demolition. The BSP candidate, Jitendra Kumar Singh, has 16 cases against him.
In Kaiserganj, Brij Bushan Sharan, sitting MP, quit the SP and is now the BJP candidate. He also has a long criminal history and is an accused in the Babri Masjid demolition. So is Pawan Pandey, the BSP candidate in Sultanpur, who has 32 criminal cases against him, including of murder and rioting. He will look to turn the Dalit-Brahmin equation in his favour to challenge BJP general secretary Varun Gandhi.
In Sant Kabir Nagar, the SP has fielded Bal Chandra Yadav, who has 10 criminal cases against him, one of attempt to murder. The party’s sitting MPs and candidates in Fatehpur and Kaushambi, Rakesh Sachan and Shailendra Kumar, respectively, also faces criminal cases.
In Phulpur, sitting BSP MP Kapil Muni Karwariya has four criminal cases against him. The BJP candidate and MLA, Keshav Prasad Maurya, faces 11 cases, including murder and creating enmity between groups. The SP’s candidate and former MP, Dharamraj Patel, faces two criminal cases. The Congress candidate in Allahabad, Nand Gupta Gopal Nandi, faces seven.
