BSP won’t field mafia candidates, no Muktar Ansari from Mau says Mayawati
Lucknow, Sep 10: The BSP will make efforts to not field 'bahubali' (strongmen) or mafia candidates in next year's Uttar Pradesh polls, party supremo Mayawati said Friday, announcing that jailed gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari will not be given a party ticket from Mau again, according to news agency PTI.
She said BSP state president Bhim Rajbhar will contest from Mau seat, currently represented by Mukhtar Ansari who is lodged in a jail in Banda, with several criminal cases pending against him.
Mayawati's announcement comes days after Mukhtar Ansari's brother Sigbatullah Ansari joined the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party.
'Brahmins' security top focus if BSP wins': Mayawati
"In upcoming assembly polls, the BSP's effort will be to not field 'bahubali' and mafia elements. So, the name of Bhim Rajbhar, the BSP UP president, has been finalised from the Mau assembly seat in place of Mukhtar Ansari," she said in a tweet in Hindi.
Mukhtar's another brother, Afzal Ansari, is a BSP MP who represents the Ghazipur seat. He had defeated the BJP's Manoj Sinha, who is now the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.
Mayawati
said
the
decision
to
not
field
criminal
and
mafia
elements
has
been
taken
to
meet
people's
expectation
as
she
appealed
to
party
leaders
to
keep
this
in
mind
while
choosing
candidates.
"So
that
there
is
no
problem
in
taking
strict
action
against
such
elements
once
the
government
is
formed."
She
added,
"Alongside
ensuring
'a
rule
of
law,
by
law',
the
BSP's
resolve
is
to
also
change
Uttar
Pradesh's
image
now."
She said the BSP's should be known as the government that follows the philosophy of 'Sarvajan Hitay and Sarvajan Sukhay' (universal good).
(PTI)