BJP using my father's name for politics, people will back me in polls, says Mukhtar Ansari's son

Mau (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 1 (ANI): Abbas Ansari, son of jailed don-politician Mukhtar Ansari, is confident about his prospects from Mau Sadar constituency in Uttar Pradesh elections and alleges that BJP leaders take his father's name in their campaign as they have "no achievements to show".
Abbas Ansari is contesting from the seat as a candidate of Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), an ally of the Samajwadi Party.
BJP leaders including Union Home Minister Amit Shah have accused Samajwadi Party of giving election tickets to jailed persons. The BJP leaders have also said that Azam Khan, Atiq Ahmad and Mukhtar Ansari will be out of jail if "SP returns to power".
Abbas Ansari said many BJP candidates have criminal cases against them.
"Politics is being played on Mukhtar Ansari's name as also of Azam Khan and Atiq Ahmed as nothing was done in the last five years. People are aware of all this and will give them a strong reply," Abbas Ansari told ANI.
Mukhtar Ansari represented the Mau Sadar constituency five times since 1996. In 2017, he contested as a BSP candidate.
Abbas Ansari also alleged that BJP is doing politics of polarisation in the Uttar Pradesh elections.
"They (BJP) need to introspect. They just want to polarise people on the basis of religion. People are now aware of it," he said.
He rebutted BJP's allegations that any government led by SP will be "casteist".
He said that people share the same bond with him as with his father who is in jail.
"He (Mukhtar Ansari) was not there for 10 years and I was looking after the election," Abbas Ansari said.
Abbas Ansari studied business management and was a member of the Indian shooting team. He could not compete for qualification in the Rio Olympics after he met with an accident in 2014 which kept him out of practice for a year.
Talking about shifting gears from sports to politics, he said "it is not a switch" and he has been keen to serve people since childhood.
"If we want to serve people then we have to be public representatives," he said.
BJP has fielded Ashok Kumar Singh, whose brother was allegedly killed by Mukhtar Ansari's men in 2009.
Mau Sadar will go to the polls on March 7 in the seventh phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. (ANI)