Former BSP minister Babu Singh Kushwaha and jailed politician Mukhtar Ansari, along with two other smaller parties, have come together under the banner of Ekta Manch to contest five Lok Sabha seats in eastern UP.
The four parties include Jan Adhikar Manch headed by former BSP minister Babu Singh Kushwaha, Qaumi Ekta Dal headed by mafia don-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, Bhartiya Samaj Party led by Om Prakash Rajbhar and Janwadi Party led by Om Prakash Chauhan.
According to sources, Mukhtar Ansari, who has been in jail since 2005, will contest the Varanasi seat. Mr Ansari had contested the Varanasi seat in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls but had lost to BJP’s Dr Murli Manohar Joshi.
In 2011, the jailed politician formed his own Qaumi Ekta Dal and won two seats in the state Assembly polls.
The Jan Adhikar Manch has recently been floated by former BSP minister Babu Singh Kushwaha who is also in jail in the NRHM scam.
Mr Kushwaha had joined the BJP in January 2012 after being expelled by the BSP but his induction and subsequent arrest landed him in controversy.
The Jan Adhikar Manch, however, has been working relentlessly to consolidate the Kushwaha, Maurya and Shakya communities and their meetings have been drawing huge crowds.
Mr Kushwaha, will be contesting the Ghazipur Lok Sabha seat on the Ekta Manch banner.
Om Prakash Rajbhar, who heads the Bhartiya Samaj Party, will be contesting the Salempur seat. The Bhartiya Samaj Party may not have won any seats till now but it enjoys wide support in the Rajbhar community.
Om Prakash Chauhan, who has floated the Janwadi Party, will contest the Azamgarh seat.
Talking to this correspondent, a senior leader of the Ekta Manch said that the idea was to form a Muslim-OBC (non-Yadav) conglomerate and contest limited number of seats with total focus.
“We are not announcing that we will contest all 80 seats and play a key role in forming the next government. We are contesting five seats and will concentrate all our energies on them,” said the leader who did not wish to be identified.