- India
- International
A week is a long time in politics, as the adage goes. The period seemingly lasted longer for Congress’s Chamraua (Rampur) candidate Yusuf Ali as he and the party were left red faced.
The former BSP leader was picked as the Congress candidate for the seat on January 14. The following day, he switched to the Samajwadi Party (SP) only to plead for his return a week later.
Claiming SP deception, Ali has now apologised to Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and promised not to repeat the mistake.
While the Congress has not announced any other candidate from Chamraua and party leaders on Friday said the decision on Ali’s re-entry and acceptance of his apology lies with Vadra.
In a joint statement by Ali and his wife, Shaheen Yusuf who is the block pramukh of Swar Khsetra Panchayat, he alleged that the SP had made a false promise, saying he would be fielded from Chamraua. Calling it a “conspiracy against himself” and the “Muslim community”, Ali alleged that the Congress minority leadership is being targeted by the SP to “discredit” them in the polls.
He said, “I apologise to Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi and promise to remain loyal to the party and not repeat the mistake in the future”.
“Whatever I have done was wrong. Tickets to Muslims candidates have been denied. The SP is deceiving,” Ali said in a video statement.
In the 2012 assembly polls, Ali, then with the BSP, was elected by a margin of about 2,000 votes from Chamraua against SP’s Naseer Khan. In the next polls, Khan defeated Ali by about 35,000 votes. This time, the Congress chose him as its candidate from the seat in its first list.
Speaking to The Indian Express, a senior Congress leader said, “His apology has come, but the decision lies with Priyanka Gandhi ji. While we have not declared any candidate from the seat so far, a decision on whether his candidature will stay or not is still to be taken.”