When Elvis Presley sang Jailhouse Rock in 1957, little did he know that almost six decades later, it could serve as a headline for articles on errant Uttar Prade-sh politicians.
When Elvis Presley sang Jailhouse Rock in 1957, little did he know that almost six decades later, it could serve as a headline for articles on errant Uttar Prade-sh politicians.
The approaching elections in UP have brought cheer for politicians — cutting across party lines — who are presently in jail.
The government and the bureaucracy is going “soft” on jailed politicians and rules are being subtly relaxed to allow these netas to increase their interaction with their supporters and people from their constituencies. Mobile phones are regularly being used by these leaders from behind the bars.
Qaumi Ekta Dal MLA Mukhtar Ansari, who has been in jail since 2005 on charges of the murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai, is lodged in Agra jail, but a move is on to transfer him to Ghazipur jail, which is nearer to his constituency Mau.
Ansari, who has been regularly attending Assembly sessions in the past 11 years with court permission, is said to be closely monitoring the preparations for elections in his constituency and his supporters are in constant touch with him.
A jail official in Agra admitted that the number of people arriving to meet Ansari is growing by the day. “But he never misbehaves or throws his weight around. Even his supporters remain disciplined so there is no problem as such,” he said.
Mukhtar Ansari will not only be seeking re-election from Mau, his brothers Afzal Ansari and Sigbatu-llah Ansari will also be contesting the upcoming Assembly polls, with or without the alliance with the Samajwadi Party.
Another jailed politician who is said to be evincing keen interest in the Assembly polls is mafia don Brijesh Singh. He was recently elected as member of the UP legislative council and is lodged in Varanasi jail.
He will be pitting his nephew Sushil Singh from Danapur and his wife Annapurna Singh from Syed Raza Assembly seat, both in Chandauli district.
Brijesh Singh, according to sources, is busy preparing for the elections and is also lobbying for a BJP ticket for his nephew and wife.
“But we are also preparing to contest as independents if the BJP does not give us the tickets. Bhaiyya (Brijesh) is closely monitoring the booth wise voter list and keeps track of all poll preparations,” said an acolyte.
Another mafia don turned politician-known to flout jail rules with a vengeance is Amar Mani Tripathi.
Amar Mani Trip-athi and his wife Madhu Mani Tripathi, both convi-cted to life term for the murder of a poetess Madh-umita Shukla in 2003, are lodged in Gorakhpur jail but have been living in the private wards in the BRD Medical College since the past three years.
The jailed couple is working overtime to field their son Aman Mani Tripathi from his constituency Nautanwa in Maharajganj district.
Aman Mani, incidentally, is also an accused in the accidental murder of his wife Sara and also the kidnapping of a businessman.
