Path for united opposition is clear in 2019: Tabassum Hasan sets to win Kairana

Kairana (Uttar Pradesh): The bypoll result in Uttar Pradesh’s most-watched Kairana Lok Sabha seat can be seen going in favour of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) candidate Begum Tabassum Hasan.

47-year-old Tabassum Hasam represented the hopes of the opposition for defeating the BJP in another Uttar Pradesh bypoll this year.

Hasan took a massive lead of over 50,000 votes.

Tabassum Hasan was backed by the Congress, Samajwadi Party and even Mayawati's BSP, which never came out officially in her support.

She was fielded against the BJP's Mriganka Singh, the daughter of parliamentarian Hukum Singh, whose death led to this by-election in the seat.

Days before the elections, Tabassum Hasan bagged the support of her brother-in-law, who was contesting as an independent and could have been a strong opponent for her.

“This is the victory of truth… The path for united opposition is clear in 2019,” Tabassum Hasan told news agency ANI.

Talking to NDTV, Tabassum Hasan said, “Everyone has come out and supported us. I thank them. Other parties have supported us too.”

“We believe in live and let live... we meet everyone, sit with everyone and take everyone along... We have done that, and we will continue to do so... we live in peace and harmony,” she added.

Attacking the BJP, Tabassum Hasan said that the party and its candidate never talked about real issues. “When it comes to real issues, they have nothing to say... They bring up issues like the photos of Jinnah. After all, Jinnah was once from here... he was from here. But that changed (after partition). That is not a real issue... the real issue is that of the farmers, the poor... on that, they have nothing to say," the RLD candidate said.

Tabassum Hasan had contested for the first time in 2009 Lok Sabha election on a BSP ticket, months after losing her husband to a car crash in Haryana. Her husband Munawwar Hasan was a popular leader in Kairana. 

In 2014, Tabassum Hasan stepped aside, allowing her son Nahid to contest the election on a Samajwadi Party ticket against Hukum Singh. However, Hukum Singh won the election riding on the ‘Modi wave’ as BJP got a historic mandate.

Tabassum had her revenge in the ensuing Assembly bypoll, which Hukum Singh had vacated as Nahid became the SP MLA by beating Hukum Singh’s nephew Anil Chauhan. He won the seat again in 2017, this time against Hukum Singh’s daughter Mriganka.