Shaitsa Parveen, wife of gangster-turned-politician and former Lok Sabha member Atique Ahmed on Thursday joined the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) amid efforts by the party in reaching out to the Muslim community. Ms. Parveen is likely to be made the candidate for the mayor post from Prayagraj in the upcoming urban local bodies polls.
The much-anticipated joining took place in the presence of Dhanshyam Chandra Kharwar, chief zonal in-charge, Prayagraj, Mirzapur and Lucknow divisions of the BSP, and other senior leaders like Amrendra Bahadur Bharatiya, Raju Gautam and Satish Jathav. The BSP leaders said the joining of Ms. Parveen would strengthen the party in the region of Eastern U.P, as her family enjoyed considerable support.
Mr. Ahmed who faces dozens of criminal cases, was elected as an MLA from the Allahabad west seat for five terms and represented Phulpur parliamentary segment between 2004-2009. He was elected on a Samajwadi Party (SP) ticket in 2004 general elections. Before joining the BSP, Ms. Parveen was a member of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).
After being practically decimated in the 2022 Vidhan Sabha elections, the BSP is reaching out to the Muslim community by inducting such leaders who have sizeable support within the community and can help the party garner support of the Muslims comprising roughly 19% of the State’s electorate. Before Ms. Parveen the BSP inducted Imran Masood, an influential Muslim face from Western U.P. and made him the West U.P. coordinator of the party.
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