BSP leader Yaqub Qureshi garlamds BR Ambedkar's statue before filing his nomination papers in Meerut

MEERUT: BSP on Friday declared to field its controversial leader Yaqub Qureshi from Meerut Lok Sabha constituency, almost a month after making him party in-charge of the area. As part of the pact between SP and BSP, the Meerut-Hapur Lok Sabha seat --with over 34% Muslim population-- was allotted to the Mayawati-led party, which reposed its faith in its former MLA Qureshi.

He filed nomination papers on Friday. “I will contest with all my might to ensure that two-time BJP MP Rajendra Agarwal does not win again,” Qureshi told media later.

The BSP leader and his family members are known for courting controversies at regular intervals. A part of his slaughter house was recently shut down by the authorities after it failed to comply with the government norms.

In 2006, Qureshi had stoked a controversy by announcing Rs 51 crore for anyone who would kill Danish cartoonist who had created a cartoon of Prophet Mohammed. Later, in January 2015, after militants killed 10 journalists at French magazine Charlie Hebdo’s office, Qureshi sparked another row by offering to pay the same amount to “anyone who comes forward and claims responsibility for the attack”.

Not only Qureshi, but his family members are also locally known for controversies.

In July 2017, his daughter Aasma Qureshi had barged into Meerut Public Girls’ School (MPGS) with a whip to beat up four students who had snitched on her daughter for bunking her classes. In August 2017, Qureshi’s son Feroz along with his bodyguards allegedly beat up and threatened to kill a trader in Meerut.

Asked if controversies like the 2006 case when he announced Rs 51 crore for the Danish cartoonist will hamper his chances, Qureshi, said, “That was purely a religious matter and not a political one. Everyone has the right to put forward their concerns if anything against their religion is said or done. It was politicized for no reason.”

