Samajwadi Party fields ‘Mafia Don’ Atiq Ahmed from Sultanpur

LUCKNOW: The Samajwadi Party’s desperation to do well in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls became evident when it announced Atiq Ahmed as its candidate for the Sultanpur seat. Ahmed is an accused in the murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal in 2005. He has several cases against him and is a listed history sheeter in police records, out on bail in 2012.

However, he enjoys a strong support base among poor Muslims. He also has a large following among youth whose local problems he sorts out.

SP had earlier announced Shakil Ahmed as its candidate for Sultanpur and he had started groundwork too.

But with the buzz that BJP MP Varun Gandhi may move from his Pilibhit constituency to Sultanpur seems to have prompted a rethink in SP. Sultanpur has been a traditional Congress bastion, where the Gandhi family has influence. Varun and his mother Maneka Gandhi are BJP MPs but have a strained relationship with Sonia Gandhi’s family. By fielding Ahmed SP has succumbed to the winnability formula than politically-correct course. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav rode to power promising a crime free state and won the trust of voters when he ruled out the candidature of controversial MLA DP Yadav as an SP nominee in the 2012 assembly polls.