UP Polls: Have had enough of politics, MLAs now knock God's door

Sharib Jafri

Lucknow: With a firm belief that "God can change everything in just one moment", the leaders from different political parties are now busy offering prayers to their deities with a hope of winning the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Polls from their respective seats.

Not just the top leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi who offered prayers at the Vishwanath Temple in Kashi on Saturday, but also the various party MLAs are busy giving it a last try by bowing themselves in front of the almighty.

Few MLAs have even headed for Saudi Arabia to offer prayers at the holy mosques in Makkah and Madinah.

Among the worshipers include Akhlesh Yadav's cabinet minister Shahid Manzoor, Congress' Imraan Masood and over a dozen MLAs including Shahzil Islam Ansari, Zameerullah Khan and Jasmeer Ansari.

Interestingly, majority of MLAs, who decided to opt for the religious path, have very grim chances of winning the UP Assembly Polls 2017.

Image on stake for these Cabinet Ministers:

- Representing the Kithore constituency in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Minister Shahid Manzoor is 5 time MLA. He is getting a strong competition from BSP's Gajraj Nagar and BJP's Satyaveer Singh. He has headed for Kaba Sharif along with his family.

- UP Congress Vice President, Imraan Masood is locking horns with BJP's Dharam Singh, who won the seat in 2012 assembly elections on BSP ticket. BSP candidate Naveen Choudhary has made the battle even tougher.

- Samajwadi Party MLA Shahzil Islam Ansari is contesting from his pocket borough constituency Bhojipura in Bareilly. He has a close fight with BJP's Bahuran Lal Maurya and BSP candidate Suleiman Beg.

Islam Ansari is 3 time MLA from this seat. He had fought on BSP ticket, Ittehad Millat Council ticket and as Independent candidate in the past.

It may be mentioned that seven districts spread across 40 constituencies will go to polls on March 8 in the last phase polling of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Polls. The counting of votes will take place on March 11.

See photos in next slides:

Shahid Manzoor

Shahzil Islam

Imraan Masood

Zameerullah Khan