UP first lists: BSP has 13 Muslims, SP-RLD 9, BJP none

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati on Saturday released the first list of 53 candidates for the Uttar Pradesh assembly election. The former chief minister announced the list, which has 13 Muslims, in Lucknow. Earlier too the party had announced two candidates from the minority community.

The Muslim candidates fighting on BSP ticket are: Haji Mohammad Anees from Budhana, Salman Saeed from Charthawal, Majid Siddiqui from Khatauli, Mohammad Salim from Meerapur, Mohammad Mukarram, alias Nanhe Khan, from Siwal Khas, Kunwar Dilshad Ali from Meerut South, Mohammad Shaheen Chaudhary from Chhaprauli, Haji Aqeel Chaudhary from Loni, Haji Ayub Idrisi from Muradnagar, Mohammad Arif from Garh Mukteshwar, Mohamamd Fareed from Shikarpur, Mohammad Bilal from Kol and Raziya Khan from Aligarh.

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The BSP chief had tweeted on Thursday about fielding Noman Masood, Imran Masood’s brother, from Gangoh assembly seat. His name, however, was missing from the list.

The BJP, despite mobilising RSS-linked Muslim Rashtriya Manch to appeal to minority voters, did not name a single Muslim in its first list of 107 candidates. Samajwadi Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal included nine names from the minority community in their first list of 29 candidates.

Muslim candidates in SP-RLD’s first list include: Nahid Hasan from Kairana, Shahid Manzur from Kithaur, Rafiq Ansari from Meerut, Aslam Chaudhary from Dhaulana, Salman Saeed from Kol and Zafar Alam from Aligarh on SP tickets; as well as Ahmad Hameed from Baghpat, Haji Younus from Bulandshahr and Dilnawaz Khan from Syana on RLD tickets.