Mukhtar Ansari aides confident of his victory from Varanasi

, March 27: Quami Ekta Dal (QED) on Thursday expressed confidence that its candidate and jailed legislator Mukthar Ansari will win the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from Varanasi where BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal are also in the fray.

Aides of Ansari, who contested the last Lok Sabha polls from the seat on a BSP ticket and came second, are confident that their leader would win the elections banking on Muslim votes, and said despite hype Modi and Kejriwal wouldn't be able to draw votes as they "do not have any base in the city".

Ansari's supporters feel Modi and Kejriwal can't win since they are outsiders

"Both Modi and Kejriwal don't have base in the city. Votes will certainly polarise in favour of Ansari," senior QED leader and Ansari's close associate Athar Zamal Lari said. "Modi is only seen on television and social media... the hype is created by him by pumping huge amount of money for publicity. When he lands on the electoral pitch, he would understand how tough it is to defeat Ansari here," he said.

Lashing out at Kejriwal, Lari asked, "Who knows him here and what has he done for the minorities whose votes he is seeking?" "Kejriwal has betrayed Anna Hazare who provided him a platform where he is standing today...," he said. Lari said as SP, BSP and Congress have not fielded any strong candidate from Varanasi, Ansari would emerge as the most strongest leader.

Ansari, the sitting MLA from Mau, is presently lodged in jail in the BJP leader Krishnanand Rai murder case. He is also facing a number of criminal charges including that of murder and extortion. In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, Ansari lost to BJP's Murli Manohar Joshi by a margin of over 17,000 votes.

PTI