Couple wins Suar assembly, nagar palika chairman seats

LUCKNOW: It eventually turned to be a double delight for Shafeeq Ahmad, the lone Muslim MLA of the BJP-led NDA in Uttar Pradesh.
While Ansari won the bypoll in Rampur's Suar assembly seat - the bastion of SP senior Azam Khan - as a candidate of BJP ally Apna Dal (S) defeating SP candidate Anuradha Chauhan; his wife Reshma Parveen, also an AD (S) candidate, registered a victory as the Suar Nagar Palika Parishad (NPP) chairperson.
Parveen, 53, was elected as Suar NPP chairman in 2017 civic polls also but as an independent. This time, she along with her husband joined the AD (S) - a move that paid off. The couple happens to be Pasmanda Muslim, the socio-economically backward community among the minority. According to an affidavit submitted with the state election commission, Parveen belongs to 'Momin' (Ansar) caste, which is categorized as OBC in UP. She has studied up to class eight and the couple have assets worth over Rs 5 crore.
Suar assembly constituency was unreserved, while the NPP chairperson seat was reserved for OBC women. Not surprisingly, AD (S) fielded a backward Muslim to take on Chauhan, a Thakur.
Reshma said that her win was a victory for the Pasmanda community which had remained neglected for so many years. "Janta ne bahut support kiya...sabhi ne vote diya (The public supported us strongly. Everyone voted for us)," she said, while speaking to TOI.
Shafiq said that the perception about Muslims not being supportive of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre and state is "not fair". "This needs to change. The attitude of Muslims is certainly changing for the BJP and its allies. The community has been a key gainer of various welfare schemes initiated by the Narendra Modi government at the Centre and UP government led by CM Yogi Adityanath," said Ansari, who defeated SP candidate Anuradha Chauhan. Anasri, as a matter of fact, is an ex-chairman of the same Suar NPP seat which is now represented by his wife.
Parveen defeated Arti Shikha, an independent, by a margin of 1,400 votes, cornering 40.8% of the total votes polled. As a matter of fact, Parveen's winning margin lessened as compared to the one in the last ULB polls. Data shows that in 2017, Parveen had defeated Shamim Jahan (30), an independent, by a margin of 3,938 votes, cornering 51.64% votes. Then, too, the seat was reserved for OBC women.