The Samajwadi Party, which had lost the 2007 Assembly elections mainly because of its patronage to criminals and anti-social elements, has again given tickets for the upcoming Assembly elections to people facing serious criminal charges.
The Samajwadi Party has fielded Abhay Singh, a history sheeter, from Gosainganj constituency of Faizabad.
Abhay Singh, presently lodged in Faizabad jail, has 32 cases pending against him in Lucknow, Faizabad and Gonda district. The charges against him are of serious nature including murder, illegal detention and attempt to murder and rioting. Vijay Misra, the SP candidate from Gyanpur constituency in Sant Ravidas Nagar, is presently lodged in Meerut jail and is a hardcore criminal. He is the prime accused in the case of bomb blast outside the residence of UP minister Nand Gopal Gupta in Allahabad in July 2010 in which the latter was seriously wounded.
The Samajwadi candidate from Anupshahr in Bulandshahr is Bhagwan Sharma alias Guddu Pandit.
A former BSP MLA, Guddu Pandit was jailed in connection with the abduction and rape of the research scholar in Agra and then again, in the case of abduction of 14 members of Jahangirabad Block Development Committee to ensure victory of his candidate in the chairman’s election. Lalai Yadav from Shahganj in Jaunpur is another candidate whose name figures prominently in local police records.
Veer Singh, son of slain dacoit Dadua, has been given ticket from Patti in Pratapgarh. However, Veer Singh wants to contest from Chitrakoot and recently staged a demonstration at the Samajwadi headquarters for a change of seat. His request is still pending with the party high command.
Mitrasen Yadav, who has recently been convicted in a case of embezzlement and cheating, is the Samajwadi nominee from Bikapur in Faizabad. Yadav is now working overtime to get his conviction stayed from the higher court in order to be eligible to contest the polls. Incidentally, his son Anand Sen Yadav, a former BSP minister, is also in jail after being convicted for the abduction and murder of his pregnant girlfriend.
The party has also nominated over a dozen candidates having criminal cases against their names but the party leaders dismiss the cases as being politically motivated.