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UP polls: BSP fields Muslim candidate against Yogi Adityanath from Gorakhpur urban seat
19 OBCs, 17 upper castes, 11 dalits and seven Muslims on the BSP’s new list of 54 candidates for the sixth phase of UP polls
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has fielded a Muslim candidate Khwaja Shamsuddin from the prestigious Gorakhpur urban assembly seat against chief minister Yogi Adityanath who filed his nomination for the UP polls on Friday.
Shamsuddin replaces Lalit Kumar Bihari, whose name the BSP had announced from the Gorakhpur urban assembly seat earlier.
Shamsuddin’s name is among the candidates that BSP chief Mayawati on Saturday announced from 54 assembly seats in 10 districts of east Uttar Pradesh that will go to polls in the sixth phase on March 3. Gorakhpur urban is among these seats.
In the latest list, the BSP has given tickets to 19 candidates belonging to the other backward classes (OBCs), 17 upper castes, 11 dalits and seven Muslims for the UP polls.
Shamsuddin is contesting the assembly election for the first time. He is a BSP sector in-charge who has been working for the party in Gorakhpur district for 20 years. He had earlier contested the local bodies’ election as a BSP candidate. A trader by profession, he also headed the BSP Muslim bhaichara committee to mobilise the support of the community for the party.
The previous BSP candidate from Gorakhpur urban Lalit Kumar Bihari had contested the 2012 assembly election on the Janata Dal (U) ticket.
After Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad announced he would contest the 2022 UP polls from the Gorakhpur urban seat, the BSP changed its candidate and decided to field Shamsuddin.
“Party chief Mayawati has fielded a loyal and hard-working party worker against chief minister Yogi Adityanath,” said BSP Gorakhpur district unit president Santosh Kumar Jigyashu.
Among the other seats, the BSP has fielded Santosh Tiwari from Kushinagar district’s Fazilnagar where former minister Swami Prasad Maurya is contesting the assembly election on the Samajwadi Party (SP) ticket. Maurya, who quit the BJP and formally joined the Samajwadi Party on January 14, is also a former BSP state president. The BSP plans to challenge Maurya with a Dalit-Brahmin coalition in Fazilnagar.
Prateek Pandey, son of former Shiv Sena MLA Pawan Pandey, has been fielded from Katehri in Ambedkar Nagar district against BSP rebel and former minister Lalji Verma, who is now with the Samajwadi Party.
Chandra Prakash Verma, who defected to the BSP from the BJP, has been fielded from Akbarpur against former BSP national general secretary Ramachal Rajbhar, who has also joined the SP.
The BSP has fielded Deepak Agarwal, who was once a close aide of Yogi Adityanath, from Pipraich. Agarwal had contested the 2002 assembly election on the Hindu Mahasabha ticket after Yogi Adityanath’s relations with the BJP soured before the polls that year.
BSP legislature party leader (assembly) Umashankar Singh has been given the party ticket from his traditional seat Rasda in Ballia district.
The BSP has fielded former minister Raj Kishore Singh from Harraiya in Basti district and Mohammad Tabish Khan from Mehdawal assembly seat in Sant Kabir Nagar district. Anju Singh has been fielded from Sahjanwa seat in Gorakhpur district. She is the wife of Sudhir Singh, known for muscle power.
An ex-Serviceman Angad Mishra is the BSP candidate from Bairiya in Ballia district. The BSP has fielded Parvez Alam from Pathardewa against Uttar Pradesh agriculture minister and BJP candidate Surya Pratap Shahi.
Uttar Pradesh goes to polls in seven phases between February 10 and March 7 to elect 403 members of the state assembly. The results will be declared on March 10.
