All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi has slammed the Samajwadi Party’s decision to drop sitting MP S.T. Hasan from Moradabad and alleged that there’s a conspiracy to end the political representation of minorities.
"Doctor Saheb, I told you that your leader, Akhilesh Yadav, will not give you B form, you did not believe my words. Imtiyaz Jaleel was also present during our conversation. Your leader only wants your vote, he wants you to keep ‘laying the carpet’ for him and ‘sacrifice your youth for your brother’. This is a conspiracy to end the political representation of minorities," Owaisi said in a post on X.
The SP has decided to field Ruchi Vira from the Moradabad Lok Sabha constituency. An upset Hasan has said that he will not campaign for Vira.
“I will not be campaigning in Moradabad for the party's candidate, it will be very disheartening for those who supported and prayed for me," Hasan told news agency ANI.
Hasan had filed his nomination papers on Tuesday despite being denied ticket by the party. However, on Thursday, he made it clear that he would not contest the polls.
Earlier, speaking to reporters in Moradabad, Hasan said Akhliesh might have some compulsion due to which he cancelled his candidature.
"Till the last moment, the SP chief wanted me to contest the elections from Moradabad. But some of the party leaders did not allow the papers, which Akhilesh Yadav had sent for me from Lucknow to file nomination again, reach me. The papers did not reach me till 3 pm (on Wednesday)," he said.
In the 2019 general elections, Hasan won the seat by bagging 50 per cent vote. He defeated BJP’s Kunwar Sarvesh Kumar while the Congress’s Imran Pratapgarhi came third.