Don-turned-politician Mokhtar Ansari’s party Qaumi Ekta Dal with two MlAs, merged with the ruling Samajwadi Party in lucknow on Tuesday.
The merger was announced by senior SP leader Shivpal Singh Yafav at a press conference in the presence of the QED chief Afzal Ansari and his brother Sibgatullah Ansari.
Mokhtar Ansari is in jail for his alleged role in the murder of BJP MlA Krishnanad Rai and is undergoing trial in a CBI court.
The Samajwadi Party however chose to distance itself from the don-turned-politician saying that the entire QED has merged with itself barring Mokhtar, who is an MlA from Mau.
Welcoming the QED into the party fold, Shivpal Yadav said, “The SP welcomes the home coming of the QED. The merger would immensely help the SP to strengthen its mass base in east UP and help the party in retaining power in the 2017 Assembly polls’’.
“The merger will prevent the division of minority votes in several east UP districts. I will soon visit Ghazipur where lakhs of supporters of the QED will join the SP. Afzal Ansari has been associated with the SP and was a party MP from Ghazipur lok Sabha seat,” said Yadav.
Replying to a question the SP leader denied that Mokhtar Ansari has also joined the SP and claimed that the party is consistent on not having any link with leaders with tainted background.
During the press conference, neither SP leaders nor QED leaders made a mention of Mokhtar Ansari. Till now in Agra jail, Mokhtar is reported to have been shifted to lucknow jail after the decision of the merger.
Endorsing Yadav’s statement, QED chief Afzal Ansari said, “I have been working for the SP since 1994. But certain political compulsions led me to create the QED. Now with conditions changing, the party has been merged with the SP.’’
Elaborating the conditions, Ansari said, “The rise of communal forces is a serious threat to the secular fabric of the country. The BJP won the 2014 lok Sabha polls by making false promises. Having failed to deliver on those promises, now it is out to malign the SP government in UP and divert the attention of the people.’’
“Under these circumstances, my party decided to merge with the SP to prevent the division of secular votes and we don’t want to be seen as `vote katwa’ party,’’ said he.