Lucknow: If initial trends in the Kairana bypoll hold out or stay true then SP, RLD joint candidate Tabassum Hasan will become the only Muslim Member of Parliament from Uttar Pradesh in Lok Sabha.
Tabassum Hasan is fighting the bypolls on a RLD ticket in Kairana. The RLD, a Jat-dominated party, fielding a Muslim candidate makes for an interesting choice that too in a district that witnessed Jat-Muslim riots five years ago.
In a state which houses around 20% Muslim population, Tabassum Hasan will be the lone Muslim Lok Sabha MP from UP since 2014 general elections.
Tabassum first fought and won the Lok Sabha Election in 2009 on a BSP ticket, just months after the death of her husband in a car crash in Harayana.
She is also a member of UP Sunni Waqf Board.
Speaking to News18 after taking lead in the Kairana bypolls, Tabassum Hasan said that if she wins it will be a win of truth against lies.
“Enough lies were told and issues raked up during these bypolls, but I am thankful to the people of Kairana, who despite such extreme weather conditions voted for me. People who thought they were invincible and there is no alternative to them have fallen face first. Both Hindus and Muslims have voted against BJP as they were fed up with their kind of politics.”
On the burning issue of EVM malfunctioning, she voiced her demand that future elections be conducted through ballot papers.
“I still stand by what I said. There has been a conspiracy and we do not want any future elections to be conducted on EVM machines. The path for united opposition is clear in 2019. The results are being seen as an indication of the ruling BJP’s popularity against opposition unity,” she added.
The Kairana seat fell vacant after the death of BJP MP Hukum Singh, whose daughter Mriganka Singh is now the party candidate. She is fighting Rashtriya Lok Dal's Tabassum Hasan, who is also supported by the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party.
Just ahead of the polls, Lok Dal candidate Kanwar Hasan withdrew from the contest and joined RLD, further boosting her chances.
The opposition hopes that by consolidating the anti-BJP vote it will repeat its success in Gorakhpur and Phulpur bye-elections earlier this year when the ruling party suffered humiliating defeats.
The Kairana election is the fourth Lok Sabha by-election in the state since 2014. Apart from Gorakhpur and Phulpur, a by-election was also held in Mainpuri in 2014.
Comments
0 comment