All India Hindu Mahasabha leader Kamlesh Tiwari, whose “objectionable” remarks on Prophet Muhammad had provoked countrywide protests by conservative Muslims, may contest the coming Assembly byelection from either Muzaffarnagar Sadar or Deoband, say party leaders.
Byelections to three Assembly constituencies —Muzaffarnagar Sadar (Muzaffarnagar), Deoband (Saharanpur) and Bikapur (Faizabad) — which fell vacant after the death of sitting Samajwadi Party MLAs, are scheduled for February 13.
Mr. Tiwari, who has been lodged in a Lucknow jail since December 2, has become a household name, thanks to nationwide protests against him by the conservative section of minority community across the country, many of which went violent like the one in Malda in West Bengal.
Mr. Tiwari, who was granted bail last week by a Lucknow court, will remain in jail until the Allahabad High Court decides on his plea against the slapping of the National Security Act (NSA) on him by the State government.
A delegation of Hindu Mahasabha leaders is expected to meet Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik seeking his intervention to release Mr. Tiwari.
“We are going to meet the Governor to apprise him of the attitude of this government towards Hindus. We are of the view that charges against Mr. Tiwari are politically motivated. The Samajwadi Party government is acting as if it was the government for just one particular community,” said Ram Naresh Shrivastava, a Hindu Mahasabha leader.
Several members of his family also approached the Union Home Ministry appealing to revoke the NSA.
