AGRA: Rupendra Rana , one of the accused in the lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq in Dadri over suspicion of beef consumption, will be contesting next year’s general election from Noida on an Uttar Pradesh Navnirman Sena ticket.The controversial outfit has also decided to field Haryanvi singer Vikas Kumar from Mathura. Kumar had recently sent a legal notice of Rs 7 crore to the makers of “Veerey Ki Wedding” for allegedly using his song without his permission. Earlier, the party had offered a ticket from Agra to Shambhulal Regar, who was arrested for allegedly lynching and burning a Muslim man in Rajasthan’s Rajsamand area last year.Confirming the move, UP Navnirman Sena chairperson Amit Jani told TOI, “Rana is the perfect person to protect cows as he had spent 2.5 years in prison for the respect of gaumata.”“Rather than making false promises of doing something for cows, Rana had proven his commitment to the cause in 2015,” Jani said, adding that a formal announcement will be made in Bisada, the village where Akhlaq was lynched in 2015, on Monday.On the night of September 28, 2015, a mob had attacked Mohammad Akhlaq and his son Danish at Bisada village in Dadri over suspicion of slaughtering a cow and storing beef in his house. Akhlaq had succumbed to his injuries on the spot while Danish survived. Eighteen local youths, including three juveniles, were charged with murder and assault in the case. The juveniles were granted bail by the high court subsequently. Rupendra has been out on bail after spending 2.5 years in prison.Talking about singer Vikas Kumar, Jani said, “He is a Brahmin and thus best suited for Mathura which has a large chunk of Brahmin votes.”Jani said the first election rally for his party’s candidates in Agra, Mathura and Noida will be jointly organised in Maant area of Mathura on October 14. He added that his outfit will contest all Lok Sabha seats from the state if the BJP tries to create hurdles in his poll rally. At present, UP Navnirman Sena has planned to contest from five seats, including Aligarh and Firozabad He said that all his five “pandavas” will be a big trouble for the BJP candidates in their respective constituencies.