A day after the Samajwadi Party decided to name Azam Khan’s confidante Ruchi Vira as candidate for the Moradabad seat, the sitting MP, S.T. Hasan, on March 28 said he would not canvas for Ms. Vira ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Confusion prevailed among the ranks as the party leadership changed its candidate for the Gautam Buddh Nagar seat as well. Sources said they were reconsidering the Meerut candidate too. This was after the party had already changed its Bijnor candidate. For the Rampur seat, the leadership decided to stick to Mohibullah Nadvi, chief Akhilesh Yadav’s pick, after the candidature of Azam Khan loyalist Asim Raja was cancelled during the scrutiny process on Thursday.
Mr. Hasan said he continued to be a loyal SP soldier but could not humiliate his supporters who had worked for the party and prayed for his ticket. Making an indirect attack on Mr. Khan, he said Mr. Yadav was pressured into cancelling his ticket at the last minute. “I work for those who are suffering and in the present times, Muslims and Dalits are the most affected. I will continue to raise their voice,” he said.
