BSP first off the blocks with list of 100 candidates for UP polls, includes 36 Muslims

Lucknow: The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Thursday released its first list of 100 candidates for the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls. The list includes 36 Muslims. Polling to pick a new 403-member assembly will be held between February 11 and March 8. The BSP list includes Nawab Qazim Ali Khan from Rampur, Ali Yusuf Ali from Chamaruwa, Mohammad Islam Khan from Gunnaur and Syyeda Begum from Budhana in Muzaffarnagar. Other prominent leaders fielded by BSP supremo Mayawati include Mukesh Dixit from Saharanpur City, Majid Ali (Deoband), Diwakar Deshwal (Kairana), Satyendra Solanki (Meerut Cantonment) and Pankaj Jolly (Meerut City). Old timers like Dharampal Singh from Etmadpur has been fielded again. Raj Bala has been given ticket from Chaprauli in Baghpat, Hazi Zakir Ali from Loni in Ghaziabad, Amarpal Sharma from Sahibabad and Suresh Bansal from Ghaziabad. The BSP has fielded Ravikant Mishra from Noida, Satveer Singh Gujjar from Dadri and Vedram Bhati from Jewar. Thakur Jaiveer Singh has been fielded from Barauli in Aligarh and former Power Minister Ramveer Upadhyaya from Sadabad in Hathras. The BSP has 80 MLAs in the outgoing assembly.