The Congress has once again fielded Imran Masood from the Saharanpur Lok Sabha seat in western Uttar Pradesh. Mr Masood, a prominent Muslim leader, has previously contested from Saharanpur twice as a Congress candidate. However, he failed to win on both occasions.
5 Facts about Imran Masood:
1. Imran Masood was born on April 21, 1971, to Rashid Masood in Gangoh, Uttar Pradesh. He is the nephew of former Union minister Rasheed Masood. In his 15 years in politics, Imran Masood has worked in the Congress, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and now back in Congress.
2. He ventured into politics in 2006 and was elected the chairman of the Saharanpur municipal council. Just a year later, he won from the Muzaffarabad seat in his first Assembly elections as an Independent candidate. In 2012, Mr Masood contested the elections from the Nakur constituency and was defeated by BSP's Dharam Singh Saini.
3. Ahead of the 2014 general elections, Imran Masood caused a huge controversy after he threatened to "chop Narendra Modi into pieces". He was arrested for the hate speech. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, he lost the Saharanpur seat to BJP's Raghav Lakhanpal.
4. In 2017, Imran Masood, the joint candidate of the Samajwadi Party and Congress, contested the UP Assembly elections from the Nakur seat. He lost to BJP's Dharam Singh Saini. In 2019, Mr Masood received another drubbing when he lost the Saharanpur Lok Sabha seat to BSP's Haji Fazlur Rehman.
5. Ahead of the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, Imran Masood left the Congress and joined the Samajwadi Party. However, this switch was short-lived and he soon joined the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party. He suggested that BSP should join the INDIA bloc and praised Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi. He was expelled from BSP for the breach of party discipline. In 2023, Imran Masood returned to Congress, describing it as his "ghar wapsi" or homecoming.
