The son of a five-time MLA, the nephew of a jailed politician, a ‘muscleman’ who floated his party in 2018, an SP candidate whose supporters clashed with his rival, and a former MP have 30 criminal cases. The most prominent ‘Bahubali’ who won their seats in the UP assembly elections on Thursday.
Raghuraj Pratap Singh (Raja Bhaiya)
The seven-time MLA retained his traditional Kunda seat in Pratapgarh and defeated Gulshan Yadav of SP by a margin of 30,418 votes. Singh was contesting the election on the symbol of Jansatta Dal Loktantrik Party, which he had formed in November 2018. Yadav has 21 criminal cases registered against him, while one of the total 40 cases is pending in Singh’s election affidavit. On February 27, hours after voting in the fifth, there was a clash between supporters of both the candidates. Singh was booked for assaulting a Dalit booth agent of SP. In another case, Yadav was booked for allegedly attacking a farmer for not supporting his party.
Abbas Ansari
Jailed Mukhtar Ansari’s son wins Mau seat comfortably by a margin of 37,674 votes BJPAshok Kumar Singh. He contested his first election as a candidate of SP alliance partner Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party. Mukhtar was elected five times in a row till 2017 from his stronghold Mau. Abbas was booked for allegedly threatening government officials after voting. Taking cognizance of this matter, the Election Commission banned any public meeting, procession, rally and attending any interview for 24 hours.
Abhay Singh
Gangster-turned-politician Aarti of BJP managed to defeat Yadav by 12,774 votes in Ayodhya’s Gosainganj seat. According to the police, a total of 35 criminal cases are registered against the SP MLA. Aarti Yadav’s MLA husband Indra Pratap alias Khabu Tiwari is lodged in jail in a forgery case. A few days before the voting, supporters of both the parties attacked each other, leading to a FIR Against Singh on February 19, who was released on bail on the same day.
Sushil Singh
BJP’s Sushil, the nephew of gangster-turned-politician Brijesh Singh, who has only one pending case in his election affidavit, was declared the winner from Sayedaraja (Chandauli) against SP’s Manoj Kumar. The difference was 11226 votes. Brijesh is lodged in Varanasi jail. Kumar’s wife Neelu Singh alias Neelam Singh also contested from this seat as an independent ticket and got only 427 votes.
Ramakant Yadav
The former MP, who had declared 30 cases against him, won Azamgarh’s Phulpur Powai seat on an SP ticket by 24,747 votes. Yadav defeated Ram Surat of BJP, who secured 55,647 votes.
Not all Bahubali could be better than its rivals. Here are some that suffered drubbing:
Dhananjay Singh
JDU candidate and former MP lost the Malhani seat of Jaunpur to Lucky Yadav of SP. Yadav is the son of former minister Paras Nath Yadav, who passed away in 2020 after a prolonged illness. SP Patron Mulayam Singh Yadav addressed the public meeting for the SP candidate. After the last phase of polling on March 7, supporters of both the candidates pelted stones at each other.
Vijay Mishra
After winning the Gyanpur seat of Bhadohi four times in a row, jailed leader Vijay Mishra could not retain the seat against Vipul Dubey of the Nishad Party. Contesting as a candidate of Pragatisheel Manav Samaj Party, Mishra came third with 34,782 votes. Mishra faces various charges, including rape and land-grabbing, and has 20 criminal cases pending against him, according to his election affidavit.
Yash Bhadra Singh
With 53,994 votes, the former MLA slipped to third place to contest for the Isauli seat in Sultanpur. Singh, who is contesting on a BSP ticket, got 53,994 votes, while SP’s Mohammad Tahir Khan won the seat with 69,294 votes. There are 21 cases pending against Singh.
Madan Bhaiya (Madan Gopal)
In a close contest, the RLD candidate lost from Ghaziabad’s Loni seat to BJP’s Nand Kishor by 8,710 votes. Bhaiya had declared two cases in his affidavit.
Aman Mani Tripathi
in Nautanwa MaharajganjWhile the BSP candidate stood third. Rishi of Nishad Party won the seat with 90,122 votes. Aman Mani is out on bail in the 2005 murder case of his wife Sara Singh. His father Amar Mani and mother Madhumani are serving life sentences in a murder case and are in jail. Amar Mani is a former minister.