Kairana result will change politics before 2019 elections, says Tabassum Hasan, RLD candidate who won
Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Tabassum Hasan won the Kairana Lok Sabha seat as the Opposition’s common candidate against the Bharatiya Janata Party
Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Tabassum Hasan is in the headlines after she won the Kairana Lok Sabha seat as the Opposition’s common candidate against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a by-election held on May 28.
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Hasan, 47, defeated BJP candidate Mriganka Singh, whose father Hukum Dev Singh held the seat before his death. Hasan began her political career in 2004, winning an election for zila panchayat chairperson in Kairana.
In 2007, she contested assembly elections from Sardhana in Meerut and come second. After her husband Munawwar Hasan’s death in 2008, she won the Lok Sabha election from Kairana in 2009 as a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate.
Hasan, after her Lok Sabha term got over, joined the Samajwadi Party (SP) in 2015 and successfully contested election for member of zila panchayat in 2017.
Hasan was supported by the Congress, Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party in the Kairana byelection this year. She spoke to Hindustan Times after her victory.
What message your victory will pass on for 2019 Lok Sabha elections?
Kairana victory will infuse a fresh vigour in the proposed grand alliance [of Opposition parties] and it will surely change the direction of politics in 2019. I will try to end communal hatred and bitterness among the people.
In west Uttar Pradesh, elections are largely fought on communal lines but this factor did not work this time. Why?
They (the BJP) have been exposed and people understand their design. They divide people on religious and communal lines and also tried to vitiate atmosphere here. They raised the issue of Jinnah [Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah] which had nothing to do with Kairana. When nothing worked on the last day of election, they tampered with the EVMs. I demand that EVMs should not be used in any election.
After the Muzaffarnagar riots, how did the RLD bring Jats and Muslims together on a common platform?
Muzaffarnagar riot of 2013 was the handiwork of some forces for political gains. The BJP has been exposed and people now understand how its leaders divide them. This brought people together to teach them a lesson.
Whom would you give credit for your victory?
I express my gratitude to voters of the constituency who expressed faith in me. I thank my party leaders Ajit Singh and Jayant Chaudhary who really worked hard during the campaign. I also thank Akhilesh Yadav, Mayawati, Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi and all those who supported me.
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