Mukhtar joins Maya

BSP chief Mayawati scored another major hit against arch rival Samajwadi Party (SP) on Sunday when SP MLA Mukhtar Ansari, a listed mafia don, joined the BSP.

In jail for a BJP leader’s murder, he will be the BSP candidate from Varanasi against BJP luminary Murli Manohar Joshi. 

Mukhtar commands a huge following in eastern UP, especially among young Muslims. His elder brother and hitherto SP MP Afzal Ansari, an accused in the same murder case and out on bail, deserted SP in favour of the BSP recently.

On Saturday, Shafiqur Rehman Barq, a Muslim leader of west UP and SP MP from Moradabad, joined the BSP, blaming Mulayam’s friendship with Kalyan Singh.

In trying to engineer defections, especially of Muslim leaders, from the SP, Mayawati seems to have compromised on her vow to keep mafias and criminals at bay. “We are giving them a chance to reform themselves,” is what she says.