Tabassum Hasan, The Face Of Opposition's Big Win Against BJP In Kairana

Kairana: Begum Tabassum Hasan, the candidate who represented the opposition's hopes for besting the BJP in another Uttar Pradesh by-poll this year, won from the most-watched Kairana by-election.

47-year-old Tabassum Hasan, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) candidate, was backed by the Congress, Samajwadi Party and even Mayawati's BSP, which never came out officially in her support.

She was pitted against the BJP's Mriganka Singh, 57, the daughter of parliamentarian Hukum Singh, whose death led to the Kairana by-election.

Days before the bypoll, Tabassum Hasan bagged the support of her brother-in-law, who was contesting as an independent and could have eaten into her votes.

"Everyone has come out and supported us. I thank them. Other parties have supported us too," Tabassum Hasan told NDTV.

"We believe in live and let live... we meet everyone, sit with everyone and take everyone along... We have done that, and we will continue to do so... we live in peace and harmony," she said.

She hit out at the BJP, saying the party and its candidate never talked about real issues. "When it comes to real issues, they have nothing to say... They bring up issues like the photos of Jinnah. After all, Jinnah was once from here... he was from here. But that changed (after partition). That is not a real issue... the real issue is that of the farmers, the poor... on that, they have nothing to say," she said.

Tabassum Hasan was elected to parliament in 2009 as a BSP lawmaker. She joined the Samajwadi Party before ending up in RLD. Her office also has a portrait of her husband Munnawar Hasan, who had represented Kairana both in the state assembly and the Lok Sabha. He died in a road accident in 2008.