UP Assembly Elections 2022: On Sunday, BJP ally Apna Dal (S) named Haider Ali Khan, who is the grandson of Congress senior leader Noor Bano, as its first candidate for the Suar assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh. This made him the first Muslim candidate to be fielded by the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state since 2014.
Congress had declared Haider as its candidate for the seat on 13th January. However, he refused that offer and joined Anupriya Patel-led Apna Dal (S). Haider Ali’s father was a four-time legislator.
Haider is likely to be up against Rampur MP Azam Khan’s son Abdulla Azam, who is fielding from the Samajwadi Party ticket.
In the 2017 assembly elections, Apna Dal (S) had fielded 11 candidates and won nine seats but none of them are Muslim.
Haider Ali Khan is an Essex University graduate. His father Nawab Kazim Ali Khan has been a four-time MLA from Suar and Bilaspur. In 2017, Kazim had contested from the Suar seat on a BSP ticket but lost to SP candidate Abdullah, son of Azam Khan. In December 2019, Abdullah lost his assembly membership due to discrepancies in his election affidavit, and the one who complained of this was Kazim.
In February 2020, Abdullah, along with his parents Azam and Tazeen Fatima were sent to jail in connection with many criminal cases against them.
