Samajwadi Party worker attempts self immolation after being denied ticket to contest polls  |  Photo Credit: ANI
Lucknow: With less than a month left for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections to begin, a Samajwadi Party worker on Sunday attempted self-immolation after being denied a party ticket. Thakur Aditya had allegedly attempted it outside the party office in the capital city.
“I have worked for the party in constituency 74 of Aligarh in the last 5 years. I want justice,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. The party worker was stopped by bystanders and police officials as he tried to set himself on fire. Visuals shared online showed a visibly emotional Thakur being detained by the police.
Videos of the politician have since gone viral on social media, and show Thakur vowing to end his life, “come what may”. Reports have suggested that he wished to contest from the Aligarh seat – where former MLA Jafar Alam has been given a ticket.
The recent entry of several leaders from other parties into the SP has led to resentment in the ranks, with there being multiple claimants for every seat. With the party having stitched together an alliance with several regional groups, there are now around 60 seats that have been set aside.
“Till now there are around four dozen leaders from other parties who have joined SP and want tickets. Besides, the party is giving around 60 tickets to the allies, including Rashtriya Lok Dal. This implies that around 100 tickets are not available to those party leaders who have worked relentlessly in their respective constituencies in the past five years,” news agency IANS recently quoted a senior party functionary as saying.
Top BJP leaders including Swami Prasad Maurya, Dara Singh Chauhan, Dharam Singh Saini have recently defected to the SP. Other entrants include Imran Masood of the Congress and Ram Achal Rajbhar and Lalji Verma of BSP.