SP gives ticket to kin of Ansari, Azam and BSP's Naseemuddin

The party has also fielded controversial former MP Atiq Ahmed from Kanpur Cant and Abdullah Azam, son of senior minister Azam Khan, from Swar.

Lucknow, Dec 10: Sigbatullah Ansari, brother of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, and BSP leader Naseemuddin Siddiqui's brother Hasnuddin are among 23 candidates named by Samajwadi Party today for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

The party has also fielded controversial former MP Atiq Ahmed from Kanpur Cant and Abdullah Azam, son of senior minister Azam Khan, from Swar.

Hasnuddin Siddiqui has been given ticket from Banda. His brother Naseemuddin is considered a close confidant of BSP president Mayawati and is the Muslim face of her party. SP state unit president Shivpal Singh Yadav released the new list at the party headquarters here. Sigbatullah has been fielded from the Mohammadabad seat that he represents in the present Vidhan Sabha.

Atiq Ahmed, who is a former MP from Phoolpur, is an accused in the murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal. Atiq was also the president of the Apna Dal from 1999 to 2003.

Mukhtar Ansari's Quami Ekta Dal recently merged with the SP despite opposition by chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. The party has changed seven candidates which it had earlier announced.

PTI