Joint candidate from RLD, SP files papers
MEERUT: Flanked by leaders of Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and Samajwadi Party (SP), RLD candidate Begum Tabassum filed her nomination papers for the by-election to the Kairana Lok Sabha constituency on Wednesday afternoon.
Earlier, RLD’S vice president Jayant Chaudhary and SP leaders addressed a rally in her support and called upon supporters of both parties to ensure her victory in the election.
SP MLC Sanjay Lathar, party leader Virendra Gujar, SP’S Kairana MLA Nahid Hasan, RLD’S district president Yogendra Jandheri and others accompanied Tabassum to the office of the district election officer Indra Vikram Singh.
Tabassum is the joint candidate of SP and RLD and is likely to get support of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Congress as part of the opposition’s strategy to field a common candidate against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the election.
Tabassum was first elected MP from Kairana seat in 2009 on a BSP ticket. She, thereafter, joined the SP and her son, Nahid Hasan, contested the Lok Sabha election against BJP leader Hukum Singh in 2014 but lost.
The BJP fielded Hukum Singh’s daughter, Mriganka, in the 2017 assembly election against SP’S Nahid Hasan and lost.
Hukum Singh earlier represented the constituency and died after a prolonged illness. Tabbasum will take on Mriganka.
After filing her nomination, Tabassum said she had no challenge from anyone and her priority would be to stop exploitation of people and ensure payment of sugarcane dues to farmers.
Addressing a rally, Chaudhary called upon people to give a befitting reply to those who said that Kairana was a riot-affected area where Hindus and Muslims could not sit together.
Mriganka will file her nomination on Thursday, which is the last day to file papers.
SECURITY IN KAIRANA BEEFED UP
District election officer Inder Vikram Singh said only five persons will be allowed to enter the collectorate for filing nominations on Thursday. He said tight security arrangements have been done for the smooth conduct of the bypoll.