AMN / KAIRANA (UP)
The joint opposition candidate Begum Tabassum Hasan today won most-watched Kairana Lok Sabha by elections defeating BJP candidate Mriganka Singh by huge margin.
47-year-old Tabassum Hasan, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) candidate, was backed by the Congress, Samajwadi Party and even Mayawati’s BSP, which never came out officially in her support.
She was pitted against the BJP’s Mriganka Singh, 57, the daughter of parliamentarian Hukum Singh, whose death led to this by-poll.
Tabassum Hasan is the first Muslim winner since 2014 lok Sabha election,when the rightwing party won 72 out of 80 seats from Uttar Pradesh, the state that sends the highest number of elected lawmakers to Parliament.
Since 2014, Muslims have been marginalised politically and their representation in Parliament and state legislatures has depleted, a trend directly proportional to the BJP’s meteoric rise.
Days before the polls, Tabassum Hasan bagged the support of her brother-in-law, who was contesting as an independent and could have eaten into her votes.
“Everyone has come out and supported us. I thank them. Other parties have supported us too,” Tabassum Hasan said.
“We believe in live and let live… we meet everyone, sit with everyone and take everyone along… We have done that, and we will continue to do so… we live in peace and harmony,” she said.
She hit out at the BJP, saying the party and its candidate never talked about real issues. “When it comes to real issues, they have nothing to say… They bring up issues like the photos of Jinnah. After all, Jinnah was once from here… he was from here. But that changed (after partition). That is not a real issue… the real issue is that of the farmers, the poor… on that, they have nothing to say,” she said.
https://twitter.com/tabasum_hasan/status/1002089095487606789