Bukhari blows hot and cold on SP
Uncertainty prevailed on Wednesday over whether Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukharis son-in-law Umar Ali Khan will file his nomination for Member of Legislative Council polls.
Uncertainty prevailed on Wednesday over whether Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari’s son-in-law Umar Ali Khan will file his nomination for Member of Legislative Council (MLC) polls. This on a day when five candidates of the Samajwadi Party submitted their nomination papers for the MLC elections and a lone party candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat.
Amidst the speculations,Imam Bukhari,who was in Delhi said that he will be reaching Lucknow on Thursday to settle the issue. “There are issues about adequate Muslim representation,which need to be addressed. I will be leaving for Lucknow on Thursday,” said Imam Bukhari,who remained adamant on three MLC seats for Muslim candidates,for most part of the day. Later in the evening,he reduced his demand to two MLC seats and one Rajya Sabha nomination for Muslims.
“We need two MLC and one Rajya Sabha seat for Muslims. It is genuine for the adequate representation. The community has been given raw deal in (Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav) ministry with only three cabinet berths and one representation in previous Rajya Sabha elections by the party,” said Bukhari.
The Imam also said that by nominating Muslims,the message should be given to the community about their representation. “If it isn’t,then Umar will not file his papers,” he said.
The Imam was expected to arrive in Lucknow on Wednesday but he preferred to remain at Delhi. Sources claimed that repeated phone calls by SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav also failed to pacify the Imam.
Finally,when damage control managers were pressed into service,Bukhari relented and agreed to reach Lucknow on Thursday. Bukhari said the issues will be discussed threadbare during his meeting with Mulayam. Nevertheless,it seems unlikely that Bukhari’s demand would be met. Already five SP candidates have filed their nominations. The list includes revenue minister Ambika Choudhary,Naresh Uttam,Vijay Yadav,Madhu Gupta and the latest entrant Ram Sakal Gurjar of Agra. Arvind Kumar Singh filed papers for lone Rajya Sabha seat. With two more in the list left,including CM Akhilesh Yadav and state spokesperson Rajendra Choudhary,Imam’s son-in-law Umar Ali Khan will now be the eighth candidate unless there is a last minute change. The SP can win seven seats easily while the eighth candidate has to depend on surplus votes from outside.
The row over MLC seats in SP turned murkier in the war of words between Cabinet minister Azam Khan and Imam Bukhari. Both the leaders washed their dirty linen in public with Bukhari playing the Muslim card and claiming that SP should nominate three Muslims for MLC.
The war of words continued for three days. It was finally,Azam Khan who was left licking his wounds as no one from his party stood by him. Bukhari too was not able to extract anything concrete from the SP.
All eyes are now set for Thursday when Bukhari will be meeting Mulayam.
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