india

Updated: Sep 19, 2018 07:49 IST

A lesser known political outfit, Uttar Pradesh Navnirman Sena, has decided to field Shambhulal Regar — accused of hacking a Muslim man to death and burning his body in Rajasthan’s Rajsamand — as its candidate from Agra Lok Sabha seat.

Though Regar is currently lodged in Jodhpur jail, party leaders are confident that he would win the election. The Agra (reserved) Lok Sabha seat is presently represented by former union minister Ram Shankar Katheria who is the chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC).

National president of UP Navnirman Sena Amit Jani said: “If a person is accused in a murder case it does not mean he is a murderer... Regar has the constitutional right to contest election till his conviction...” He said the party had offered Regar a ticket which he had accepted.

“There will be objections from parties which have otherwise given tickets to people like Atiq Ahmad, Mukhtar Ansari and Shahabuddin and got them elected in the name of secularism. These parties will oppose the candidature of Shambhulal Regar who comparatively faces lighter charges than many others contesting elections,” Jani claimed.

He said the BJP should have given ticket to Regar from some assembly seat in Rajasthan but it was in no mood to do so. “Navnirman Sena will field candidates in UP for Lok Sabha elections...The seers will guide us and also campaign for our candidates,” Jani added.

Labourer Mohd Afrazul, who hailed from West Bengal, was allegedly hacked and burnt alive on December 6 last year by Regar. After killing Afrazul, Regar was seen in a video ranting that he did it to ‘stop Love Jihad’, a term publicised to refer to Muslim men marrying Hindu women.

Jani was arrested in October 2017 in Agra along with his associate Updesh Rana for posting a controversial post depicting Taj Mahal as ‘Tejomahalaya’, a Shiv Temple, on social media.