With 16 new names, BSP picks nominees for all 38 UP seats

LUCKNOW: The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Sunday announced candidates on 16 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.

With this, the BSP has declared candidates on all 38 seats allotted to it under the pre-poll alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).

The BSP named Chandrabhadra Singh alias Sonu Singh from the Sultanpur Lok Sabha seat. According to state police records, Chandrabhadra and his brother Yashbhadra Singh alias Monu were named in connection with murder of nine people in Prayagraj (then Allahabad) in 2006.

Afzal Ansari, brother of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, was given ticket from Ghazipur.

The party fielded Atul Rai, an aide of Mukhtar, from Ghosi. Kushal Tiwari, the son of strongman Hari Shankar Tiwari, has been fielded from Sant Kabir Nagar in eastern UP.

The party also fielded Ritesh Pandey from Ambedkar Nagar seat.