IMC to contest 70 seats in west UP alone

Bareilly: Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC), a political outfit led by Sunni Barelvi cleric Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan, will be contesting 70 seats in Bareilly, Moradabad and Meerut divisions, which will be going to polls in the first two phases of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. The party had announced 12 candidates from Meerut division here yesterday. Maulana Khan said here today that his party will award tickets without considering caste and religion as factors. "As communal forces target Bareilly, we have decided to send out a message of brotherhood here.

In Bareilly district, which has nine assembly constituencies, six tickets will be awarded to Hindus while remaining three will go to candidates belonging to the minority community. For empowering women, we will give three tickets to them," he added. He further said that his supporters in Lakhimpur Kheri and Bahraich wants the party to contest elections from there but the party lacks appropriate resources and time. He added that candidates for the remaining constituencies falling under Bareilly, Moradabad and Meerut divisions will be declared in a couple of days.

Though the cleric had earlier claimed that he wanted to form a grand alliance in UP on the lines of the one in Bihar, he said his party now does not want to be part of the SP-Congress alliance. "When Mulayam himself claimed that Akhilesh is working against Muslims, there is no scope of forming an alliance with the SP as he is against brotherhood between the two communities," said Maulana Khan and claimed that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister did injustice to SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.

The IMC has declared candidates for Kairana, Shamli Sadar, Budhana, Charthaval, Purqazi, Sivalkhas, Sardhana, Chaprauli, Badot, Baghpat, Loni and Sahibabad constituencies. Meanwhile, chairperson of Nawabganj Nagar Palika, Shaila Tahir, who belonged to the Mulayam Singh Yadav faction in the Samajwadi Party, has joined IMC yesterday. Though Mr Mulayam had given ticket to Ms Tahir from Nawabganj, the state Chief Minister had announced the ticket from the same seat for his close aide and sitting MLA, Bhagwat Saran Gangwar, due to which Ms Tahir left the SP and joined the IMC.

Ms Tahir said, "Mulayam gave me the ticket from Nawabganj as he was aware that I am a strong contestant but Mr Akhilesh replaced me with a person who has done nothing for development for the last 20 years. I was denied a ticket due to the internal feud in the SP. As I was hurt, I left the SP for IMC, which is a secular party." (UNI)