UP polls: Rajbhar dubs don-turned-neta Mukhtar Ansari 'messiah of poor' following BSP snub

After ally AIMIM offered an election ticket to don-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party chief Om Prakash Rajbhar described him as the "messiah" of the poor. A Minister in the Yogi Adityanath-led government until 2019, Rajbhar is currently leading the 10-party 'Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha' which also includes Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM, Apna Dal faction of Krishna Patel, Rashtroday Party, Rashtriya Bhagidari Party, Janta Kranti Party among others. Speaking to the media on the sidelines of a party workers' convention on September 11, he highlighted Ansari's political stature in the Purvanchal region.

SBSP president Om Prakash Rajbhar remarked, "Whether it is a BJP, SP, BSP, or Congress leader in Purvanchal, whoever wants to win the election goes and seeks blessings from Mukhtar Ansari. He wins the election only after that. The poor, underprivileged and the leaders there consider him as a messiah.

Weighing in on BSP supremo Mayawati's announcement denying him a party ticket, he said, "What big leaders say is their prerogative. When Mukhtar Ansari joined BSP at one point in time, Mayawati Ji said that he is the messiah of the poor. I am repeating Mayawati's words. More than half of MPs in Lok Sabha and the state Assembly are criminals. Many people are pointing fingers against him because he is a Muslim. BJP, Congress and BSP should introspect."

BSP's drive against the criminalization of politics

Currently languishing in the Banda jail, Mukhtar Ansari is a 5-time MLA from the Mau constituency and faces more than 50 criminal cases not just in UP but other states as well. In a big announcement of September 10, Mayawati declared that no mafia don including Ansari will be fielded in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election signalling her intent to counter the criminalization of politics. She contended that this decision will ensure that a crackdown on such criminals can be initiated once a BSP government is formed in the state. Moreover, she revealed that UP BSP president Bhim Rajbhar will be the party's candidate in Mau.

Incidentally, the former UP CM's decision came days after Mukhtar Ansari's brother Sigbatullah joined Samajwadi Party in the presence of Akhilesh Yadav. While Sigbatullah Ansari is a former MLA from Mohammadabad, their other brother Afzal Ansari is a BSP MP from the Ghazipur Lok Sabha constituency. After all the Ansari brothers were expelled from BSP in 2010, they formed the Quami Ekta Dal which later merged into the Mayawati-led party ahead of the 2017 Assembly polls.