Kairana will go to polls on May 28.
Lok Dal candidate for the upcoming Kairana Lok Sabha byelection, Kanwar Hasan, on Thursday quit his party and joined the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).
The Lok Dal has cried foul over the move and wrote to the Election Commission of India (ECI) seeking action against the RLD and Kanwar Hasan. Kairana will go to polls on May 28.
Kanwar is RLD-SP alliance candidate Tabassum Hasan’s brother-in-law. His decision to join the party comes in wake of RLD vice-president Jayant Chaudhary approaching him on Thursday.
“To defeat BJP, division of (Muslim) votes has to be stopped. Hence I decided to not let family differences come in the way and support her. Jayant had come to me on this matter today,” said Kanwar.
“Kanwar Hasan has joined RLD and extended support to our candidate,” said Chaudhary when The Indian Express contacted him.
The bypoll was necessitated after the death of BJP Kairana MP Hukum Singh earlier this year. Tabassum’s son Nahid Hasan, who had contested as SP nominee, came second while Kanwar, then with the BSP, came third with 1.59 lakh votes.
“Then too Muslim votes had divided between SP and BSP candidates, “ said Kanwar who filed his nomination this year as a Lok Dal candidate after the BSP decided not to contest the bypoll.
Informing the ECI that Kanwar Hasan was the party candidate, Lok Dal chief Sunil Singh wrote, “This morning, the RLD vice-president Jayant Chaudhary met him at his residence and offered him party membership, which is a clear sign of use of moneypower. From our sources, we have learnt that Rs 8 crore was transacted. In view of this serious matter, the Lok Dal requests you to cancel RLD’s registration, order an I-T and CBI inquiry into RLD’s black money and strict action be taken against Kanwar Hasan.”
When Chaudhary’s comments were sought, he said the allegations were false.
The BJP is fielding Hukum Singh’s daughter Mriganka.
Tabassum had been in SP till recently when she switched sides after the SP and RLD came together for the bypoll. The two parties had agreed to field her on an RLD ticket.