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BSP names four Muslims as Lok Sabha probables, likely to hit INDIA bloc strategy in Rohilkhand region
BSP names Muslim candidates for key Lok Sabha seats in West Uttar Pradesh, likely impacting INDIA bloc strategy. Mayawati to release candidates' list in Lucknow.
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The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has named four probable Muslim candidates as its in-charges for the Moradabad, Amroha, Saharanpur and Pilibhit Lok Sabha seats. The move is likely to throw a spanner in INDIA bloc strategy to consolidate Muslim votes.
All these four seats are in West Uttar Pradesh’s Rohilkhand region, where Muslims constitute 20%-40% of the population.
The BSP has made Dr Mujahid Hussain in-charge of Amroha Lok Sabha seat, Irfan Saifi of Moradabad , Anish Ahmed Khan aka Phool Babu of Pilibhit and Majid Ali of Saharanpur.
By naming Majid Ali, the party has all but denied the ticket to its sitting Saharanpur MP Haji Fazlur Rehman, who had defeated BJP’s Raghav Lakhanpal in 2019.
“The probable candidates have been made in-charge of the Lok Sabha seats after getting the green signal from the party leadership. They have been directed to launch the election campaign in the respective constituencies. After the Election Commission of India (ECI) issues the notification for the Lok Sabha polls, party chief Mayawati will release the candidates’ list in the state unit office in Lucknow,” a BSP leader said.
Named for Amroha, Dr Mujahid Hussain is a medical practitioner while his wife is chairperson of the Dasna Nagar Panchayat. In 2019, the BSP’s Danish Ali won the Amroha seat, defeating the BJP’s Kanwar Singh Tanwar, who has been fielded again. Expelled from the BSP, Ali is likely to contest on the Congress ticket this time.
Irfan Saifi, the BSP’s Moradabad in-charge is chairman of the Thakurdwara Nagar Panchayat. He won the post after defeating SP candidate Irfan Ansari in 2023. The SP is likely to field sitting party MP ST Hasan from Moradabad.
Anish Ahmed Khan aka Phool Babu, the BSP’s Pilibhit in-charge, was a minister in the Mayawati government (2007-12). He is a four-term former MLA from Bisalpur.
The NDA and INDIA bloc are yet to name their Pilibhit candidates. In 2019, BJP candidate Varun Gandhi won the seat, defeating the SP’s Hemraj Verma.
Named for Saharanpur, Majid Ali enjoys influence over Muslims in the Deoband region. His wife Tasneem Bano is former chairperson of Saharanpur Zila Panchayat.
The BSP, which won 10 Lok Sabha seats in 2019 when it had an alliance with the Samajwadi Party, has announced it will go solo this time.
Despite desertion by Muslim leaders like Afzal Ansari, the sitting Ghazipur MP, and Shah Alam alias Guddu Jamali, who contested the Azamgarh Lok Sabha by-poll in 2022, and former MLA Imran Masood, BSP chief Mayawati has stuck to her plan to field Muslim candidates in Muslim majority seats.
