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Lok Sabha polls: BSP releases first list of 16 candidates for 80 seats in UP
Among the 16 candidates, Muslims have been given the largest share with seven seats, while the Dalits, the Other Backward Class (OBC) and upper castes have been given an equal share of the three seats
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Lucknow: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Sunday announced the first list of 16 candidates out of the 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. UP will go to polls in four phases.
Among the 16 candidates, Muslims have been given the largest share with seven seats, while the Dalits, the Other Backward Class (OBC) and upper castes have been given an equal share of the three seats each.
The party has fielded Majid Ali from the Saharanpur seat, Dr Mujahid Hussain from Amroha, Mohammad Irfan Saifi from Moradabad, Zishan Khan from Rampur, and Shaulat Ali from the Sambhal Lok Sabha seat. Abid Ali has been fielded from Aonla, and Anis Ahmad Khan alias Phool Babu from Pilibhit.
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On the reserved seats, the party has fielded Dalit community candidates, including Surendra Pal Singh from Nagina, Girish Chandra Jatav from Bulandshahr and Dod Ram Verma from Shahjahanpur Lok Sabha seat.
The party has denied the ticket to Haji Fazlur Rehman, a sitting party MP from Saharanpur. It has also denied a ticket to sitting party MP Maluk Nagar who belonged to the Gujjar community and instead has fielded backward community Jat candidate Vijendra Singh from the Bijnor seat.
Rajput candidates Rajendra Singh Solanki and Sripal Singh have been fielded from Gautam Buddha Nagar and Kairana seats, respectively.
Tyagi community candidate Devrat Tyagi has been fielded from Meerut seat, OBC Prajapat community candidate Dara Singh Prajapati from Muzaffarnagar and Gujjar community Praveen Baisala from Baghpat Lok Sabha seat.
Mayawati is working on a rainbow coalition of Dalits-Muslims-OBCs-Upper Castes, with seven of the 16 candidates announced by the party for the western UP seats being Muslims, experts say.
Also Read: Split in Dalit votes likely, Muslim factor to be at play in UP’s Nagina
This would likely impact the opposition INDIA bloc in Muslim majority Rohilkhand region, where Muslims account for 20%-40% of the votes, as well as, the National Democratic Alliance in the Meerut region of the West UP.
The BSP chief has given a large share of the ticket to Muslim candidates and is working to regain the support of the community to make a comeback in Uttar Pradesh politics, said a party leader. Even if 19% of the Muslims support the BSP, the party will be able to increase its tally in the Lok Sabha and legislative assembly, he said.
“By giving tickets to the Muslim, Upper Caste and OBC candidates, Mayawati wants to send a message that a Dalit-based party has given tickets to all the communities to get their support in the upcoming Lok Sabha election. Working on the social engineering formula, the BSP had formed a majority government in the 2007 assembly election”, said SK Srivastava, a political observer.
