BJP sees opportunity to wrest Mukhtar family's traditional Mau seat in bypoll
Lucknow: The disqualification of Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) MLA Abbas Ansari from Mau Sadar assembly seat following his conviction in a hate speech case has necessitated byelection on the seat.
All eyes are now on the BJP-led NDA which sees a chance to wrest the constituency which has been a stronghold of late gangster-politician
Mukhtar Ansari
and his family for nearly two decades.
Mukhtar's son Abbas Ansari won the seat in 2022 on SBSP ticket, which was then an ally of the Samajwadi Party. Now, SBSP is BJP's ally. Abbas had defeated BJP's Ashok Singh by 48,000 votes. The Mau Sadar seat was represented by Mukhtar since 1996 – twice on a BSP ticket (1996 and 2017), twice as an independent (2002 and 2007), and once as a Quami Ekta Dal candidate in 2012.
Mukhtar died following a cardiac arrest while being lodged in Banda jail in Mar 2024.
Party sources said BJP's organisational machinery has hit the ground running in the Muslim-dominated constituency. Sources said the party plans to build a groundswell on the lines of Muslim-dominated Rampur and Kundarki assembly seats, which the BJP won in byelections in 2022 and 2024, respectively.
UP BJP chief Bhupendra Chaudhary said the party is working among the people in the district.
"We will intensify the groundwork in the coming days," he said, adding that the party's central leadership would decide the candidate after due consultation. "The byelection on Mau would be contested by the NDA. Whether it would be BJP or SBSP will be decided in due course," he said.
SBSP, too, has staked its claim to contest from the seat. SBSP president and UP minister Om Prakash Rajbhar said his party, which has been a strong contender in Mau Sadar, would seek to contest the byelection with BJP's support.
Rajbhar emphasised that the SBSP was the runner-up in 2017 and won the seat in 2022, highlighting the party's growing influence in the region.
A senior BJP functionary, however, said the party gave a fair chance to the SBSP by allowing it to contest the Ghosi Lok Sabha seat in 2024 which includes the Mau Sadar segment. The move, however, did not yield the desired results as Congress-backed SP candidate Rajeev Rai defeated Rajbhar's son Arvind by a significant margin of over 1.6 lakh votes.
Experts said the BJP wants to capitalise on Mukhtar Ansari family's legal troubles besides highlighting the clean governance of the Yogi govt.
Analysts say the disqualification of Abbas Ansari and Mukhtar's absence have significantly weakened the family's political influence in the seat. At present, Mukhtar's brother, Afzal Ansari, is Ghazipur MP on an SP ticket while his elder brother Sibghatullah's son Suhaib Ansari is MLA from Mohamadabad. However, Afzal Ansari too faces multiple criminal cases, further jeopardising the family's political future.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
22 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Assam police probing 1,000 social media accounts linked to Pak, Bangladesh: CM
Guwahati: Around 1,000 social media accounts suspected to have links with Pakistan and Bangladesh are under investigation by the state police, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday. 'I have asked the special branch (of Assam Police) to look at over 2,000 accounts on Facebook who are commenting on social media platforms on Assam election. Half of those accounts are from Bangladesh and Pakistan,' Sarma said, after attending a cabinet meeting. The CM said that these accounts on platforms like Facebook were allegedly opened by members of a particular community on a single day keeping the next year's assembly elections in the state in mind. 'The number will increase as the election nears as Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) wants somebody to win. If you read the comments, you will notice that those don't have names of our people. I will reveal more details on September 10,' he added, The CM was referring to the date when the special investigation team (SIT) of state police is slated to make public its report on alleged links of MP and newly appointed Assam Congress president, Gaurav Gogoi, and his British wife to the military and intelligence establishments of Pakistan. Gogoi, who represents the Jorhat Lok Sabha seat in Assam, has denied the accusations and urged Sarma to make public details of the investigation earlier than the stipulated date. He has, however, admitted to visiting Pakistan in 2013 (before he had become an MP) while his wife Elizabeth was posted there with an NGO that works on climate change. Sarma said that there was no competition with Congress or any other party for next year's assembly polls in the state as no one can match Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s development work and the goodwill for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 'Nationalism, identity and development are BJP's planks. But on the other hand, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is supporting Pakistan (on the issue of Operation Sindoor),' the CM said. 'People of Assam are aware and they know that only BJP can protect the interests of indigenous people of the state and supports its policies like action against child marriages, evictions of illegal encroachers from 'satras' (Vaishnavite monasteries),' he added. Sarma said that in the past few days, the Assam government has pushed back an unspecified number of suspected Bangladeshis to the neighbouring country. 'Could any Assamese have imagined that we would push back Bangladeshis? I will give you the number later. In the past one month, we have pushed back many of them saying they can't stay here. Only BJP can do such a thing because we know what Assamese people want,' he said.
Hans India
29 minutes ago
- Hans India
11 Dead, 20 Injured in Bengaluru Stadium Stampede During RCB Victory Celebrations
Bengaluru: A tragic stampede outside Bengaluru's M. Chinnaswamy Stadium claimed the lives of at least 11 people and left over 20 injured on Wednesday as thousands of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) fans gathered to celebrate the team's maiden IPL title. According to initial reports, chaos erupted when the stadium crew kept the outer gates shut despite mounting crowds outside. The gates were reportedly opened at the last moment, triggering a surge as over 600 fans rushed into the outer precincts. The resulting panic led to a stampede in which six men and four women lost their lives. The crowd had begun assembling since early morning, hoping to catch a glimpse of the winning team arriving with the IPL trophy. Roads around the stadium and key areas in the Central Business District were blocked as fans converged from across the city, many arriving by metro and on foot. The RCB team was earlier felicitated by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar at Vidhana Soudha. The team was scheduled to make an appearance at the stadium later in the day. According to state BJP president B Y Vijayendra, this was a failure of the government, 'we had told the government not to hold such a large event without proper planning. But the government was adamant on holding it on Wednesday just a day after the RCB team won the championship." According to a report, there were only 100 policemen in an area where over 50,000 people had gathered, and police force was outnumbered drastically. The road from Raj Bhavan, Ambedkar Veedhi, Queens Road, MG Road, GPO, Cubbon Park KR circle, The approach to Anil Kumble circle from Kasturba road, Kamraj road, St Marks road, cubbon road were completely blocked with RCB fans. According to an estimation, over 2 lakh- 3 lakh people had tried to reach the Chinnaswamy injured in the stampede were rushed to Bowring Hospital, including several minors and elderly fans. Authorities are probing the incident, and questions are being raised about crowd management and security preparedness. Addressing a press conference Chief minister S Siddramiah has announced a compensation of Rs. 10 each to all the persons who have died and free treatment to people who have injured at Bowring hospital as well as the private faciliteis. He said thankfully nobody among the injured are critical. 'We are shocked that this incident has happened at a time when the city must be celebrating, but the crowd participation was too much in number while the Chinnaswamy stadium had space limited to 35,000 people. I have also ordered an inquiry headed by a magistrate level official into the incident. We will bring those people responsible for this tragedy to the book. The CM explaining the conditions that prevailed at the Chinnaswamy stadium said 'The gates were smaller and old and the facility could not handle 2-3 lakh people surging at it was totally unexpected. I have ordered the Bengaluru Urban Deputy commissioner to give a report to him followed by the magisterial enquiry in next fifteen days' The CM squarely blamed the Karnataka State Cricket Association for wrongly assessing the gravity of the situation. 'The KSCA functionaries had requested to hold the event today (Wednesday) for their own reasons, even KSCA might not have foreseen such a crowd surge' The CM said. 'This was not a government event but we obliged the KSCA's request. We had acted only as a facilitator with security and other law support' he added.
Time of India
34 minutes ago
- Time of India
HC junks Rahul's plea, says free speech doesn't extend to remarks against Army
Lucknow: Observing that freedom of speech and expression is subject to reasonable restrictions and it does not include freedom to make statements which are defamatory to any person or to the Indian Army, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on May 29 dismissed Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's plea challenging a lower court summon in a defamation case over alleged derogatory remarks about the Indian Army during his . Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The single-judge bench of Justice Subhash Vidyarthi observed that the material on record made a prima facie case against Gandhi for making defamatory statement against Indian Army and hence the summoning order of lower court could not be set aside, and he would have to stand on trial. The case stems from a complaint filed by Udai Shanker Srivastava, retired director of the Border Roads Organization (a position equivalent to a Colonel in the Indian Army), in which he alleged that on Dec 16, 2022, during his 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' in Lucknow, Gandhi made disparaging comments about a face-off between the Indian and Chinese armies in Arunachal Pradesh on Dec 9, 2022. According to the complaint, Gandhi had said, "People will ask about Bharat Jodo Yatra, here and there, Ashok Gahlot and Sachin Pilot and whatnot. But they will not ask a single question about China capturing 2000 sq kms of Indian territory, killing 20 Indian soldiers and thrashing our soldiers in Arunachal Pradesh. But the Indian press doesn't ask a question to them about this. Isn't it true? The nation is watching all this. Don't pretend that people don't know." Srivastava contended that Gandhi's statement was "false and baseless" and made with "evil intention of demoralizing the Indian Army and to damage the faith of the Indian population in the Indian Army". He highlighted that the official statement from the Indian Army on Dec 12, 2022, confirmed that "PLA troops contacted the LAC in Tawang Sector which was contested by our troops in a firm and resolute manner. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now This faceoff led to minor injuries to a few personnel from both sides." The complainant said that Gandhi's "baseless and derogatory statement" deeply hurt him and other nationalists. The additional chief judicial magistrate, court no. 27, Lucknow, had on Feb 11, 2025, summoned Gandhi to face trial for the offence under Section 500 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code. The lower court observed that prima facie, Gandhi's statement appeared to demoralize the Indian Army and its personnel and was not made in the performance of his official duties. Gandhi's counsel, Pranshu Agarwal, argued that the complaint was politically motivated and lacked merit. He contended that the complainant was not an "aggrieved person" under Section 199 of the Criminal Procedure Code, as the alleged defamation was against the Indian Army as an institution, not Srivastava directly. However, Justice Subhash Vidyarthi, rejected these arguments in his ruling and observed: "No doubt, Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India guarantees freedom of speech and expression, this freedom is subject to reasonable restrictions, and it does not include the freedom to make statements which are defamatory to any person or defamatory to the Indian Army." The court clarified that the complainant as an "aggrieved person" could file the complaint under Section 199 of CrPC. While dismissing Gandhi's plea challenging the lower court summons, Justice Vidyarthi also noted that the trial court's decision to summon Gandhi was based on a "judicious application of mind" after considering the complaint and witness statements, and was not mechanical.
