New Delhi: The filing of nominations has begun for only 120 of the 403 seats in the UP Assembly polls, and there are already over two dozen people with criminal backgrounds trying to enter the 15th UP Assembly as Independents.
Leading the pack is Mumbai blasts accused Abu Salem, who was in fact the first one to announce his candidature from Mubarakpur Assembly seat in Azamgarh district even though his name does not figure in the voter's list.
And then there is another don, Om Prakash Srivastava alias Babloo Srivastava, who has joined the fray in the Lucknow (central) seat.
Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya, too, is back in the poll field as is Seema Parihar, the female accomplice of slain dacoit Nirbhay Gujjar; Mukhtar Ansari and Dhananjay Singh.
The filing of nominations for 62 Assembly seats concluded on Tuesday while the process is on full flow for 58 seats, which go to polls in the second phase. The poll notification for the second phase was announced on Saturday.
But the number of criminals that have entered the fray has already raised many an eyebrow among political observers.
Salem’s candidature is still in doubt. The don is currently lodged in the Arthur Road prison in Mumbai. While he can contest the elections under the prevalent law, the district authorities of Azamgarh and the Chief Electoral Officer have rejected his appeal to include his name in the voter's list.
The mafia gangster has now moved the Allahabad High Court, challenging the non-inclusion of his name in the voter's list in his own home district. The status of his candidature will be clear only after the high court gives its verdict on the same.
His lawyers are hopeful of a favourable verdict. Azamgarh goes to polls only in the seventh and last phase on May 8. Salem's lawyer says the gangster actually wanted to contest Assembly elections from Sarai Meer, but his name was not included in the voter's list there too. Also, the constituency has been declared a reserved seat this time.
Babloo Srivastava had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha elections from Sitapur seat in 1995. Now he is back to try his luck in the Assembly polls from the Kayasthya-dominated Lucknow (central) seat. He is lodged in the Barielly Central Jail at present and is fighting several criminal cases in the Lucknow court.
Mukhtar Ansari, the don of Mau who is charged with crimes like murder and dacoity, was an Independent MLA in the outgoing UP Assembly.
He is back in the same seat as an Independent candidate. Ansari is also planning to field a few candidates in various other constituencies. "If some of his candidates win, it would push him into a bargaining position," PTI quoted a senior police officer as saying.
So are Dhananjay Singh (Rari, Jaunpur) and Raja Bhaiyya (Kunda, Pratapgarh), who have already crossed over to politics. There are strong chances that they will may it to the next Assembly as well.
Mohammad Ashraf, the main accused in the murder of Raju Pal, the BSP MLA from Allahabad (West), will be contesting from the same constituency. His elder brother Atiq Ahmed is a Samajwadi Party MP from Phoolpur. Ashraf, who has several criminal cases against him, was defeated by Raju Pal in the last Assembly elections.
Sanjeev Maheshwari alias Jeeva, another accused in the BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai murder case, is also planning to contest from Muzzafarnagar. Jeeva is currently lodged in jail, but continues to run his extortion racket from there, Special Task Force sources said.
Seema Parihar is contesting from Mirzapur on a Indian Justice Party (IJP) ticket. She said she chose this constituency as Phoolan Devi had contested (for Lok Sabha) from here.
Abhay Singh, another criminal who is close to Mukhtar Ansari, had contested from Ayodhya, Faizabad, in the last elections and will be contesting this time too. Sushil Mooch, a small-time criminal, is likely to fight the elections from Muzzafarnagar.
Mahendra Singh Bhatti, a convict jailed in Bulandshaher in a murder case, is also planning to contest from the district. He was in the news recently when his fake phone conversation with Union Minister of State for Home, Manikrao Gavit, hit the headlines.
Even the lists of candidates announced by various political parties till now have many candidates with criminal antecedents despite claims to the contrary by party leaders.
Some of the criminals are contesting by proxy as their relatives have been given the tickets. For example, Banda dacoit Dadua's brother, Bal Kumar, will contest the elections. Another relative of Dadua may also get a ticket.
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