Kunwar Danish Ali, who recently left the Janata Dal (Secular) to join the Bahujan Samaj Party, found his name included in the BSP’s first list of 11 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh.
Mr. Ali, who was till last week general secretary in the JD (S), has been fielded from western U.P.’s Amroha, a constituency with a substantial Muslim population.
The BSP has fielded Fazlur Rehman from Saharanpur, where the Dalit outfit Bhim Army has been trying to make forays and the Congress enjoys substantial clout among local Muslims through the Masood family. Mr. Rehman will challenge Raghav Lakhanpal of the BJP, who beat the Congress’s Imran Masood in 2014 in a polarised contest. Mr. Rehman lost the 2017 mayoral polls in Saharanpur by a narrow margin.
In Meerut, former State minister Haji Mohammad Yakoob, who stood second in Meerut South in the 2017 Assembly elections, will challenge the BJP’s Rajendra Agarwal, an MP since 2009.
In Bijnor, the BSP has stuck with Malook Nagar, a Gujjar, who stood third in 2014, while former SP MLA from Bijnor, Ruchi Vira, has been fielded from Aonla. Ms. Vira lost during the 2017 Assembly elections.
In Nagina, a reserved seat, BSP has given another chance to Satish Chandra, who polled third in 2014, while Yogesh Verma, a former MLA from Hastinapur, will contest from Bulandshahr.
Ms. Mayawati was herself speculated to contest from Nagina, but she has now clarified that she won’t be entering the electoral fray this election.
In Gautam Buddha Nagar, the BSP has fielded Satveer Nagar, a Gujjar, while Ajit Balyan, a Jat, will be the candidate in Aligarh.
Manoj Kumar Soni, who was fielded by the BSP in Hathras in the last election, will now contest from Agra, where he will go head-to-head against U.P. BJP cabinet minister S.P. Singh Baghel, who replaced sitting MP Ram Shankar Katheria.
Thakur businessman Rajveer Singh is the BSP’s candidate in Fatehpur Sikri.
The BSP has got 38 out of 80 seats in U.P., as part of the alliance with SP and RLD, which have got 37 and three respectively. The alliance won’t field candidates against Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Amethi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli.
The first phase of voting is on April 11, while the SP, BSP and RLD start their joint campaign on April 7.
Meanwhile, Ms. Mayawati targetted the BJP for its ‘Chowkidar’ campaign through Twitter, saying its “leaders are scrambling to declare themselves chowkidar for appeasement but people like UP CM are in quandary; remain jansevak/Yogi or became chowkidar.”
“They are free for any fashion but must be committed to constitution & rule of law, this is what people of the country want,” she said.
