After the news of Shambhu Regar, the man who murdered a Muslim man in Rajasthan’s Udaipur last year possibly contesting elections in 2019 wasn’t surprising enough, here is another one now.
Rupendra Rana, one of the accused who murdered Mohammed Akhlaq in Dadri in 2015 over suspicion of eating beef will be contesting the general election next year on Uttar Pradesh’s Navnirman Sena ticket.
The controversial outfit has decided to field Vikas Kumar, a Haryanvi singer 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. The same party had announced a ticket from Agra to Shambhulal Regar.
Amit Jani, the chairperson of UP Navnirman Sena told media , “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.
In 2015, a mob had attacked Akhlaq and his son Danish at Bisada village in Dadri over suspicion of slaughtering a cow and storing beef in his house.
Akhlaq succumbed to the assault while his son received injuries. Eighteen locals including three juveniles were charged with murder and assault in the case.
The juveniles were granted bail by the high court subsequently. Rupendra is out on bail after serving 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.”
