Apna Dal (Sonelal), an ally of Bharatiya Janata Party, has announced to field a Muslim candidate, Haider Ali Khan, from Suar Tanda assembly constituency in Rampur district.
Khan will contest against Abdullah Azam of the Samajwadi Party.
Despite there being no official announcement so far on the seat-sharing arrangement for the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, Apna Dal (S) on Sunday announced Haider Ali Khan as its candidate from Suar Tanda in Rampur.
Khan is the first candidate announced by Apna Dal (S), as well as the first Muslim candidate to be fielded by the alliance. He will be pitted against SP candidate Abdullah Azam, who is the son of jailed SP MP Mohammad Azam Khan.
Previously, Abdullah Azam had been elected from Suar Tanda, but the Allahabad High Court had quashed his election on the grounds that he was less than 25 years at the time of filing his nomination.
His case is pending in the Supreme Court.
Haider Ali Khan’s grandfather, Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Khan, was a five-term Congress MP from Rampur and his father, Nawab Kazim Ali Khan, is a four-term MLA and presently the Congress candidate from Rampur.
Khan himself was previously named as the Congress candidate from Swar Tanda before he defected and became the candidate of Apna Dal (S).