'Don' Mukhtar Ansari to fight against Narendra Modi from Varanasi

VARANASI: A day after Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal announced his candidature from the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency, mafiadon-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari too declared his intention to fight against BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. Ansari, who is currently in jail, told reporters while appearing for a court hearing in Mau that he would also jump into the fray. “The people of Varanasi are with me. Let elections take place and we will fight it out,” Ansari said.

He declared that he will contest from both the Varanasi and Ghosi Lok Sabha seats, according to news channels. In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, Mukhtar Ansari, then a BSP candidate, had lost to BJP’s Murli Manohar Joshi by a thin margin of 17,200 votes. Varanasi has over 2.5 lakh Muslim voters and with Ansari in the fray against Modi, who carries the burden of Gujarat riots, the mafia don could well end up consolidating Muslims behind him.