Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, on Monday, distanced the party from mafias, announcing that her party would not field gangster Atiq Ahmad’s wife Shaista Parveen or any other member of his family in the mayoral election in Prayagraj.
The BSP chief took the decision after holding a state-level meeting of her party leaders and office-bearers on the party's strategy for the upcoming urban local bodies polls.
Shaista Parveen had joined the BSP in the presence of its senior leaders on January 5 and was reportedly being considered as the party’s mayoral candidate for Prayagraj. The urban local bodies elections will be held in the state on May 4 and 11.
"Certain facts have come to the fore in the Umesh Pal murder case that happened in Prayagraj. The situation changed after Shaista Parveen absconded as her name emerged in the case. Our party would not give a ticket for the post of mayor either to Shaista Parveen or to any family member of Atiq Ahmed," Mayawati said, making it clear that the party would not go with criminals or their kin.
The BSP chief said that the decision to let Shaista Parveen remain in the party would be taken after her arrest.
Mayawati’s statement comes two days after police booked Atiq Ahmad, his wife and his son Ali in a forgery case linked to the murder of Umesh Pal. The FIR was registered on Saturday at the Dhoomanganj police station in Prayagraj.
Atiq Ahmed, his brother Ashraf and wife Shaista Parveen have been booked in connection with the murder on February 24 of Umesh Pal, a witness in the 2005 Raju Pal murder case. Two security personnel were also gunned down in the attack on Umesh Pal.