Won't Field Atiq Ahmad's Wife, Family In UP Mayor Polls, Says Mayawati

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Monday said her party will not field gangster Atiq Ahmad's wife Shaista Parveen or any other member of his family in the mayoral election in Prayagraj.

Ms Parveen had joined the BSP in the presence of its senior leaders on January 5, and was reportedly being considered as the party's mayoral candidate for Prayagraj. The urban local body elections will be held in the state on May 4 and 11.

Atiq Ahmed, his brother Ashraf and wife have been booked in connection with the murder on February 24 of Umesh Pal, a witness in the 2005 Raju Pal murder case. Two security personnel were also gunned down in the attack on Umesh Pal.

Addressing a press conference here, Mayawati also batted for the use of ballot papers in the elections for mayors and corporators of municipal corporations in Uttar Pradesh and said her party will contest the election with full vigour.

"As far as Shaista Parveen is concerned, I would like to make it clear that as per the facts emerging from media reports regarding the Umesh Pal murder case, as soon as the name of Atiq's wife emerged and after she has gone underground, the situation has changed," she told reporters.

"In this scenario, our party will now not give the mayoral ticket to Atiq's wife nor to any member of his family," Mayawati added.

The BSP chief further said, "As far as the question of keeping Atiq's wife in the party is concerned, a decision will be taken soon from the facts that emerge after she lands in the police net." Mayawati's statement comes two days after police booked Atiq Ahmad, his wife and his son Ali in a forgery case linked to the murder of Umesh Pal. The FIR was registered on Saturday at the Dhoomanganj police station in Prayagraj.

After Ms Parveen had joined the BSP, the party's zonal in-charge Ghanshyam Chandra Kharwar had said then if she wanted to contest the mayoral election, a request would be sent to Mayawati to give her a ticket.

Last month, senior BSP leader and Rasra MLA Uma Shankar Singh had come out in support of Ms Parveen in the wake of police announcing a reward for information on her.

Singh had said, "Shaista Parveen is all set to become the mayor of Prayagraj and the BJP is going to lose the seat. This is behind the BJP's fury." Mayawati further said voting for the municipal corporations and mayoral polls should be conducted using ballot papers, and not through EVMs (electronic voting machines). "The elections should be free and fair. This is our demand to the government and officials concerned," she said.

The Uttar Pradesh State Election Commission on Sunday announced the urban local body polls in two phases, on May 4 and 11, three months after the high court quashed the government's draft notification providing OBC reservation in the elections.

The state government had moved the top court with its appeal against the December 27 order of the Allahabad High Court, saying the high court cannot quash the December 5 draft notification which provided for reservation of seats in the urban civic body polls for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) apart from those for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women.

The Supreme Court on March 27 paved the way for holding the local body polls as it allowed the SEC to issue a notification in this regard with an OBC quota following a report of the Uttar Pradesh Backward Classes Commission.

Mayawati also said her party has decided to contest the polls with full vigour so that every section of the society could be taken care of at the urban local body level.

According to the State Election Commission, this year more than 4.32 crore people will use their franchise in the civic polls as against 3.35 crore in the 2017 elections.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)