Mau (Uttar Pradesh): The Mau Sadar seat has been a stronghold of the Ansaris since 1996, with don-turned-politician and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mukhtar Ansari serving as the state legislative assembly’s representative from the seat since then. This year, while Mukhtar has taken a backseat, his son Abbas Ansari has decided to continue the legacy.
He is contesting the assembly elections from Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), which is in alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP).
The BSP has fielded its state president Bhim Rajbhar from Mau in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. In an interview to The Wire, Rajbhar said, “This time, I’m not only Abbas Ansari’s adversary, but I’m also taking his bastion seat.”
Mau is a significant minority-dominated region, and is also known for its weavers, who are currently struggling to earn a minimum wage and are seeking restoration of power subsidies from the next UP government. It is going to polls on March 7.
During Modi’s wave in the 2017 assembly polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had won three out of the four seats in Mau, with one seat going to jailed MLA Mukhtar Ansari who contested from the BSP. Ansari had won with a margin of over 6,000 votes, defeating SBSP’s Mahendra Rajbhar.
However, this time, BSP chief Mayawati didn’t give Ansari a ticket, saying her party will put a stop to the criminalisation of politics. On the other hand, SBSP chairman Om Prakash Rajbhar had described Ansari as the “messiah” for the poor and offered the family a ticket to contest the assembly polls.
Bhim Rajbhar further talked to The Wire about BSP’s future in UP politics and said that the party’s groundwork will show effect in the elections.
Mayawati launched her campaign for the 2022 UP assembly elections in Agra, also known as the Dalit capital, on February 2, and was rarely seen after that. Responding to this, Bhim Rajbhar told The Wire, “Maximum rallies are still being done by Mayawati and everyone is competing against her only. We are grassroot workers, we know how to work on the ground.”
On being asked about BSP being the silent ally of the BJP, he said, “We are going to create a government in Uttar Pradesh with a full majority, and Mayawati will be the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for the fifth time.”