Prestige of family at stake in UP bye-elections

With two Uttar Pradesh lawmakers being disqualified after they were found guilty by the court in two different cases the political parties are now gearing up for by-polls in UP where “prestige of family” will be at stake again.

The first seat is Bangarmau of Unnao which was held by tainted BJP lawmaker Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who was held guilty by the court in a rape case. The other seat is Suar Tanda in Rampur where the election of Samajwadi Party’s Abdullah Azam has been set aside for forgery of his birth certificate documents.

Abdullah Azam’s father and senior SP leader and MP Md Azam Khan and his mother and legislator Fatima Tanzim have also been arrested for their involvement and submitting a false affidavit regarding Abdullah’s birth certificate.

The bye-election is likely to be a contest to salvage the prestige of the family. Both lawmakers are expected to field their family members to salvage their family pride. Samajwadi Party is all set to support any candidate which Azam Khan recommends.

Political grapevine suggests that Sengar’s family may field the disqualified legislator’s wife Sangeeta Sengar from Bangarmau bye-elections as she already wields political clout. She is chairperson of Zila Panchayat.

“People here know that Kuldeep Sengar was falsely implicated in the case due to political rivalry. There is sympathy for him and if Sangeeta contests, she will be able to underline his innocence and get sympathy votes,” said a family member.

The family knows that the BJP may not support Sangeeta’s candidature; therefore she might contest the election as an independent candidate.

In Rampur, the candidate could be from the Khan family and he would contest on Samajwadi Party symbol. The Samajwadi Party may give the ticket to Azam Khan’s elder son Adeeb Azam Kha, who so far has remained away from politics. The SP would like to whip up a sympathy wave since Azam Khan, his wife Tanzeen Fatima and son Abdullah Azam are in jail.

Though BSP is undecided whether to contest the election or not, the BJP and the Congress look confident to win both the seats.

“We have set an example by expelling Kuldeep Sengar and handing over the case to CBI. We made no efforts to shield him. On the other hand, the Samajwadi Party is protecting Azam Khan, who is an epitome of corruption. We are going to win both seats,” said the BJP spokesperson Chandra Mohan.

On Thursday, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had visited the jailed Khan family in Sitapur district jail and accused the ruling BJP of pursuing politics of vendetta.