What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
MAU (UTTAR PRADESH): An international level shooter, Abbas Ansari easily gets lost in people in his assembly constituency that was once represented by his father Mukhtar Ansari, who is sitting inside a prison.
Abbas, carrying on the tough countenance of his father, calls people of Mau his family and asks them to vote for change. He makes a case for himself.
After all he has big boots to fill. And it seems the boots are pinching.
Speaking to The New Indian in Bhiba Kol village during the last leg of campaigning, Abbas said, “There is nothing like inheritance in politics. We know a lot of people who have been rejected by people but they got to power due to their family clout. The truth remains that people vote for those who will stand by them.”
But the curiosity in this election is also because of the fact that Ansari’s former party BSP has fielded its state president Bheem Rajbhar, who had also contested unsuccessfully in the earlier elections in front of his father, against him.
For most part of his life before making a debut in 2017, he has been an international shooter.
Within minutes, Abbas turns emotional.
“All my arms licenses have been canceled and even my passport is submitted with the government. So I cannot practice shooting but I would ensure that after coming clean from court I will once again practice my shooting for India and carry it along with my politics. I will complete my passion for shooting while being in politics,” says Abbas.
So does that mean he will forego his dream if he wins the election?
“I hold BJP responsible for this (development). In 2019, I was in charge of the parliamentary seats of Mau, Ghazipur, Azamgarh and Jaunpur. We won all these four seats, and the BJP after losing in these four districts got angry and then filed a number of cases against me.”
The first case was filed against him in 2019 and the latest four days ago.
According to Abbas, this time the elections are being fought among candidates but against the BJP “because of their behaviour towards the people — the party allowed baton charges against youths demanding jobs, many people lost their lives due to mismanagement during Covid, women safety and others”.
“And people are ready to avenge it (mismanagement) from the government. So they will vote against them. The BJP is aware of this reality, especially now after the completion of elections in five rounds. They know that they have already lost it (the elections),” the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) candidate said.
Targeting the government for action against his family and bulldozing his properties, he said, “One can snatch my properties and take away all my belongings but I have the love and affection with people. It is the reason why the people in power have been unable to harm me. And I will win with a huge margin here.”
On the subject of the government bulldozing his alleged illegal properties in Mau being used as an example by the Yogi Adityanath government as action against the mafias in Uttar Pradesh, Abbas slammed the government and said, “These all are allegations, and the matter is subjudice in the court.”
Taking a pot shot at UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Mukhtar’s son says, “I don’t believe in running away from the allegations and accusations. But, I believe in the law of the land. While being in power, we never got the cases against us cleared and it is not something we plan to do when voted to power. We believe in the judiciary and we believe in facing trial, so that people know well that we have been given clean chit from the judiciary.”
