Mayawati maintains distance from criminals, denies ticket to Mukhtar
Incarcerated don-turned BSP legislator from Mau, Mukhtar Ansari’s brush with bad times continued as Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati announced on Friday that her party would not field any candidate with criminal background and ruled out a ticket to him for the 2022 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and instead declared party state president Bhim Rajbhar the candidate from Mau assembly constituency.
Ansari is presently lodged in Banda district jail.
In a series of tweets posted on Friday, Mayawati said, “The BSP’s effort will be that no bahubali (muscleman) and mafia should contest from the party in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. In view of this, the name of UP BSP chief Bhim Rajbhar has been finalised from Mau assembly seat from where mafia don Mukhtar Ansari is the sitting member of UP Legislative Assembly from BSP.”
The BSP chief later posted, “As a result of this decision, efforts are on to meet the expectations of the people. There is an appeal to the party in-charge to take special care while selecting the candidates so that if the BSP government is formed in the state then strict action could be taken against such elements.”
Mayawati further said that the BSP had resolved to change the picture of Uttar Pradesh by adopting the “rule of law” so that not only the state and the country, but every child could say that if there was a BSP government of ‘Sarvajan Hitay, Sarvajan Sukhay’ then they were safe.
“Besides, the BSP should also show by doing things that it says, and it should be the true identity of the party,” she added.
Recently, Mukhtar Ansari’s elder brother Sigbatullah Ansari had joined the Samajwadi Party and it was reported that Mukhtar’s son and other family members too could join hands with Akhilesh Yadav. A second brother of Mukhtar, Afzal Ansari is presently a BSP lawmaker and represents Ghazipur constituency in Parliament. He defeated Bharatiya Janata Party stalwart Manoj Sinha, who is now the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Ansari family has been facing the heat since the coming of the BJP government in the state. Not only was stern action initiated against the Ansaris and their aides but the administration also demolished properties worth several crores which the Ansari family allegedly procured through muscle’ orgun’ power.
Meanwhile, BSP national spokesperson Sudhindra Bhadoria on Friday said that due to the Centre’s economic policies there was an unemployment crisis among the youths in Uttar Pradesh.
Speaking to a news agency, the BSP leader slammed the BJP over unemployment in the state and said, “Uttar Pradesh is facing an unemployment crisis among youth due to the Centre’s faulty economic policies. From the time of demonetisation, the economy has been facing a downward spiral. The youth are in search of a political option and only the Bahujan Samaj Party can eradicate unemployment in the state.”
Bhadoria also supported the agitating farmers’ demand for the repeal of three farm laws.
Speaking on the issue, he said, “The government should listen to the farmers’ demands and repeal the three farm laws. Under the leadership of Mayawati, the BSP will focus on establishing a democratic and secular society as the party follows the Constitution. I believe that we will win the upcoming 2022 UP assembly polls.
