BSP fields JD(S) turncoat Danish Ali, Bharat Bandh violence accused

Former BSP MLA from Hastinapur, Yogesh Verma, who was named as an accused in the violence in Meerut during a Bharat Bandh on April 2 last year, has been fielded from Bulandshahr, a reserved seat.

BSP announces candidates for 6 Chhattisgarh seats

BSP on Friday announced names of 11 candidates for the first two phases of the Lok Sabha polls.

THE BSP on Friday announced names of 11 candidates for the first two phases of the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh. Kunwar Danish Ali, who joined the BSP last week after quitting the JD(S), has been fielded from Amroha. He was general secretary of the JD(S) and was instrumental in talks for forging an alliance between the JD(S) and Congress after the Karnataka Assembly polls last year.

Former BSP MLA from Hastinapur, Yogesh Verma, who was named as an accused in the violence in Meerut during a Bharat Bandh on April 2 last year, has been fielded from Bulandshahr, a reserved seat. The National Security Act was slapped against him and he was released after being granted bail in September after six months in jail. Kumar had contested the 2007 Assembly poll from Hastinapur on a BSP ticket and had won. He contested the seat again in 2012, this time on a Peace Party ticket, and lost.

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Meat exporter Haji Fazlu Rahman has been fielded by from Saharanpur. Rahman had contested the poll for Mayor’s post in Saharanpur in 2018 and lost. Girish Chandra has been fielded from Nageena (reserved), and Manoj Kumar Soni from Agra (reserved).

The party also declared the candidate from Meerut, Haji Mohammed Yakub, who has won two deputy mayor elections in Meerut between 1995 and 2007. He was elected as a BSP MLA in 2002. In 2007, he contested as an Independent and joined the BSP after winning. From 2002 to 2007, he was minister for minority welfare in the state.

Ajit Baliyan has been fielded from Aligarh. Although he would be contesting an election for the first time, Baliyan said he has been associated with the BSP for around 15 years.

Malook Nagar has been fielded from Bijnor, while Satbir Naagar will contest from Gautam Budha Nagar. Rajvir Singh will contest from Fatehpur Sikri and Ruchi Veera will contest from Aonla. With this, the SP-BSP-RLD alliance has named candidates for all 16 seats going to polls in the first two phases.

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Meanwhile, the BSP’s alliance partner SP on Friday said it will field Suresh Bansal instead of Surendra Kumar from Ghaziabad. Bansal recently switched over to the SP from the BSP. Asked why the party changed its candidate, SP spokesperson Rajendra Choudhary said, “It could be because the Congress has fielded a Pandit leader from the seat.”

The Congress has fielded Dolly Sharma while BJP MP and minister V K Singh is contesting from the seat. Meanwhile, the BSP on Friday also released a list of 20 star campaigners, which included party chief Mayawati, RS member Satish Chandra Mishra and Mayawati’s nephew Akash Anand.

Asad Rehman

Asad Rehman is with the national bureau of The Indian Express and covers politics and policy focusing on religious minorities in India. A journalist for over eight years, Rehman moved to this role after covering Uttar Pradesh for five years for The Indian Express. During his time in Uttar Pradesh, he covered politics, crime, health, and human rights among other issues. He did extensive ground reports and covered the protests against the new citizenship law during which many were killed in the state. During the Covid pandemic, he did extensive ground reporting on the migration of workers from the metropolitan cities to villages in Uttar Pradesh. He has also covered some landmark litigations, including the Babri Masjid-Ram temple case and the ongoing Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute. Prior to that, he worked on The Indian Express national desk for three years where he was a copy editor. Rehman studied at La Martiniere, Lucknow and then went on to do a bachelor's degree in History from Ramjas College, Delhi University. He also has a Masters degree from the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. ... Read More