Afzal Ansari hopeful of brothers getting poll tickets Uttar Pradesh

BALLIA: Elder brother of mafia-turned-MLA Mukhtar Ansari and leader of the Quami Ekta Dal (QED), which has merged with the Samajwadi Party, Afzal Ansari today refuted reports that his brothers will not get tickets in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

"Till now, neither Chief Minister and new SP chief Akhilesh Yadav nor any senior leader has made a statement in this regard or said that the SP-QED merger has been cancelled and so, all the speculations in this regard are wrong," he told reporters here.

Accusing the BJP of "spreading canards", Ansari claimed that the party will fare badly in the Uttar Pradesh polls.

He said he was "very hopeful" of his brothers getting tickets from the SP and added that he was eagerly waiting for the party to announce its list of candidates.