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Popular Muslim leader Imran Masood joins BSP, gets West UP charge
BSP office-bearers have decided to field several Muslim candidates in the upcoming local body elections in Uttar Pradesh. The move is intended to reach out to Muslim voters.
LUCKNOW: Influential Muslim leader from Saharanpur, Imran Masood, defected from Samajwadi Party (SP) and joined the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Wednesday. The development is being seen as a shot in the arm for the BSP, which eyes to wrest Muslim votes from other parties in the state.
Following the development, Mayawati, in a slew of tweets, said, “Given Imran’s tremendous zeal and enthusiasm to work for the party, the BSP has appointed him as the convener of West UP. He will strengthen the party at every level and be responsible for connecting the Muslim community with the BSP.” She added, “Imran Masood is a well-known name in the politics of Uttar Pradesh, especially in the western part of the state. He met me today (October 19) along with his close associates.”
In addition to BJP and SP, BSP also faces a stiff challenge from Chandrashekhar Azad-led Bhim Army. Both BSP and Bhim Army bank on the votes of Dalits, Muslims and other marginalised communities to sweep elections. According to political analysts, Bhim Army often cuts into the voter base of BSP.
To counter this challenge, BSP office-bearers have decided to field several Muslim candidates in the upcoming local body elections in Uttar Pradesh. The move is intended to reach out to Muslim voters, according to party officials. “Political equation in West UP will change with Masood joining the BSP. He enjoys the support of the Muslim community. We are working on the Dalit-Muslim formula to recapture our lost voter base in UP,” said a senior BSP leader.
Speaking on his switch, Imran Masood said, “With the support of all communities, the BSP will emerge as a challenger to the BJP in Uttar Pradesh. In the 2022 assembly elections, the Muslim community supported the SP but it failed to dislodge the BJP from power. Now, the BSP will emerge as an alternative to the BJP in the state.”
This is the second time Imran has jumped the ship this year. Earlier, he had switched from Congress to SP ahead of the state assembly elections. The Muslim leader was among the frontrunners for the SP ticket from Nakur assembly seat but the Akhilesh Yadav-led party fielded BJP rebel Dharam Singh Saini. Interestingly, Imran’s brother Noman Masood joined BSP in the run-up to the state election earlier this year.
