Lucknow: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati Monday said the party will not give a ticket for the upcoming Prayagraj municipal polls to its member Shaista Parveen, the wife of former MP Atiq Ahmed, an alleged gangster who is the prime accused in the February murder of Umesh Pal.
Umesh Pal, a BJP leader, was a witness in the 2005 murder of a BSP MLA, but later turned hostile and was removed from the list of witnesses by the CBI, which was handed over the investigation. Shaista is among the accused in the Umesh Pal murder and is currently believed to be on the run.
While she had not been officially declared a mayoral candidate, Shaista had begun canvassing for the polls soon after joining the BSP. She had claimed while joining the BSP in January that Mayawati had asked her to contest the mayor election.
Mayawati’s announcement comes after videos purportedly showing Shaista with two of the suspected shooters in the Umesh Pal case went viral. These videos are believed to date back before the murder.
Addressing a press conference, Mayawati said because of Shaista’s name coming to the fore in connection with the case, and her being on the run, the situation had changed and the BSP had decided that it will not give a ticket to either her or any of Atiq Ahmed’s family members.
“On the basis of whatever facts have emerged in the media in the aftermath of the incident over the past few days, the situation has changed. In this situation, our party will not give a ticket to Atiq’s wife or any member of her family for mayor,” she said.
Answering a question about Shaista’s BSP membership, she added that “the party will quickly take a decision depending on what facts come to light as soon as she is arrested”.
“Our party is not above the law and gives full respect to the law,” she said.
Shaista has alleged that her family is being falsely implicated in the case, also alleging in a letter to Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath last month that this was a conspiracy to sabotage her run for mayor.
An MP-MLA court had Thursday denied anticipatory bail to Shaista.
Also Read: 2 encounters & allegations of a ‘political conspiracy’: Umesh Pal murder takes new murky turns
Police hunt for Shaista
The police booked Shaista after Umesh’s wife Jaya Pal lodged a complaint against her and her husband, their sons, as well as Atiq’s brother Ashraf, among others, for his murder.
The UP Police had initially declared a reward of Rs 25,000 against Shaista, which was increased to Rs 50,000 last week, after Prayagraj Police said they had identified her as a conspirator in the case.
In recent days, a couple of videos purportedly showing Shaista with two men identified by Prayagraj police as shooters in the Umesh Pal case have gone viral.
In one of the videos, she is purportedly seen with accused Sabir, while in another, she is alleged to be with Armaan. Both the suspected shooters, also believed to be on the run, carry a reward of Rs 5 lakh on their heads.
The first video — where Shaista is allegedly seen moving with a group of men and women in the Chakiya area — is derived from CCTV footage and dates to 19 February 2023, four days before the murder.
In the other video — police confirmed that this dates back before the murder too — Shaista is purportedly seen during a door-to-door campaign in Prayagraj.
Speaking to ThePrint, Dhoomanganj Station House Officer (SHO) Rajesh Maurya said that the second video pertains to one of Shaista’s campaigns after she joined the BSP.
In her letter to Adityanath, Shaista, who was once associated with the AIMIM, noted that her husband Atiq was lodged in Sabarmati jail at the time of the crime, while Ashraf was in Bareilly jail. She also sought to point out that her two eldest sons, who were also lodged in jail, have also been booked.
“My son has been termed a shooter on the basis of footage that is totally baseless,” she added, alleging that the case was a “political conspiracy” hatched by the incumbent mayor’s husband, a minister in the Adityanath government.
She also alleged that the Prayagraj police had been working under pressure from the minister.
The minister, Nand Gopal Gupta ‘Nandi’, has dismissed the allegations.
Soon afterwards, Mayawati tweeted that Shaista would definitely be expelled from the party as soon as she is proven guilty.
‘Sole benefactor of backwards, Dalits, minorities’
The BSP chief also used the press conference to project the BSP as the sole benefactor of the backwards, Dalits and minorities, and asked the backwards and minorities to play a role in the upcoming elections as their votes formed a major voteshare.
“It is important to note that SC/ST/OBC and women are not happy with the reservation given to these groups. A lot of rules have been flouted in the reservation process, which reflects the ruling BJP’s motive to fulfil its self-interest at every level so that it can reap the benefits in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls,” she added.
“But the plight of the labourer class is not hidden from anyone, which is a result of money deduction from the welfare schemes for Dalits and dailywagers and delayed payment to such groups.”
“In such a situation, it is important to choose aware, capable and honest representatives,” she added.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
Also Read: Why police think Atiq Ahmed went after Umesh Pal — ‘backstabbing’, property rivalry, court cases