Lucknow: Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) president Om Prakash Rajbhar has claimed that jailed mafia don and BSP MLA Mukhtar Ansari will be contesting the upcoming 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls on his party's ticket.
Rajbhar, who recently met Mukhtar in Banda jail where the latter is kept, said, "I have offered a ticket to Mukhtar. It is now up to him to decide whether he wants to contest as SBSP candidate or as an independent. Either way, I will support him."
Asked whether his alliance partner, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, would agree to bringing Mukhtar Ansari into the fold since it was mainly because of him that the differences between Akhilesh and his uncle Shivpal had come out publicly in 2016, Rajbhar said, "If Akhilesh can mend fences with Mayawati then why not Mukhtar. In any case, Mukhtar will be from my party, not SP."
Rajbhar is apparently seeking Muslim support in Purvanchal region by bringing the mafia don into his party fold. Mukhtar and his brothers enjoy considerable influence in eastern Uttar Pradesh district, including Ghazipur, Mau, Azamgarh, Ballia, Deoria, etc.
Ansari has been kept behind the bars since 2005 and has won three Assembly elections while being in the jail.
With IANS Input
