The BSP will make efforts to not field 'bahubali' (strongmen) or mafia candidates in next year's Uttar Pradesh state assembly polls, party supremo Mayawati said Friday. She announced that jailed gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, who had been given BSP party tickets from Mau in the past, won't be receiving them anymore.
She informed that 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. Rajbhar is the state president of the BSP.
Mayawati's announcement comes days after Mukhtar Ansari's brother Sigbatullah Ansari had joined the Samajwadi Party.
"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 tweeted.
Afzal Ansari the BSP MP who represents the Ghazipur seat is also the brother of Mukhtar. He had defeated the BJP’s Manoj Sinha, who is now the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.
Her decision to not field criminal and mafia elements has been taken to "meet people's expectations" as she appealed to party leaders to take care of while choosing candidates. She says that this should be done to prevent restraint in actions against these mafias once her government is formed. The dissociation, she believes, would relieve the law and order of undue political pressure.
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).
(With PTI Inputs)
