Tabassum Hasan, the first Muslim MP from UP since 2014
RLD candidate Tabassum Hasan (ANI Photo) RLD candidate Tabassum Hasan (ANI Photo)
Begum Tabassum Hasan, who contested the Kairana bypoll on a Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) ticket, is not an unfamiliar face in Uttar Pradesh politics. Tabassum has the backing of Congress, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party against BJP’s Mriganka Singh. If she wins, Tabassum will be the only Muslim MP from Uttar Pradesh since 2014.
Tabassum did her schooling from JBS Kanya Inter College, Saharanpur and studied till matriculate. According to her profile in Lok Sabha, she is an agriculturist by profession. She has two children with late Samajwadi Party politician Munawwar Hasan, who was an MP from 1996 to 1998.
LIVE: Kairana Lok Sabha Bye-Election Results 2018 Live Updates: RLD’s Tabassum leads, says path for united opposition clear in 2019
Tabassum was first elected to Lok Sabha in 2009 on a BSP ticket, months after her husband died in a car crash in Haryana. She was a member of Committee on Health and Family Welfare and a Standing Committee on Social Empowerment and Justice. She is also a member of UP Central Sunni Waqf board.
Tabassum has been vocal about the EVM tampering in the current bypolls in UP and called for a return to ballot paper system. On the polling day, she went on to say that the Election Commision is not replacing the faulty machines in Muslim and Dalit dominated areas and accused the BJP of manipulation to win elections.
She pipped RLD national general Secretary Jayant Chaudhary in the race to contest from communally sensitive Kairana constituency. According to reports, she was picked to contest as the area has a 20 per cent Muslim population. Her candidature was backed by former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav himself.
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