Several candidates with criminal records bite the dust

The growing frustration of people against criminal elements in politics has manifested itself in the Uttar Pradesh elections, where several such candidates losing by big margins.

Prominent among those with criminal records who were vanquished in the polls are D P Yadav, Atiq Ahmad, Brajesh Singh, Abhay Singh, Madan Bhaiyya and Munna Bajrangi.

However, strongmen like Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya, Mitrasen Yadav and Akhilesh Kumar Singh, who too face criminal charges, have won again this time.

D P Yadav, whose son Vikas Yadav is serving a sentence for the murder of Nitish Katara, was in the news recently when his attempt to join the Samajwadi Party was thwarted by Akhilesh Yadav. He contested from Sahaswan constituency on a Rashtriya Parivartan Dal but stood third.

Pooja Pal, the BSP candidate from Allahabad (West) had sweet revenge against mafia don Atiq Ahmad (Apna Dal) when she defeated him in the elections. Ahmad's men had allegedly killed her husband Raju Pal in a brutal manner a few days after her marriage.

Prem Prakash Singh alias Munna Bajrangi, who is incarcerated in Tihar jail for the murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai, contested on Apna Dal ticket from Mariyahu constituency in Jaunpur but stood third.

Mukhtar Ansari, accused of being a co-conspriator with Bajrangi, has several criminal cases including that of murder against him. He lost from Ghosi where he came third but won the Mau seat.