Campaign posters trigger speculation
`Salem’s name had been struck off the electoral rolls’ He moved to Mumbai in the early 1990s
LUCKNOW: The name of extradited underworld gangster Abu Salem is not on the voter’s list of Mubarakpur constituency, from where he wanted to contest the upcoming Uttar Pradesh legislative polls, official sources said.
Hundreds of campaign posters had mysteriously appeared in Mubarakpur area of Azamgarh district a few days back, triggering speculation that he would contest the Assembly elections. His lawyer Ashok Rastogi had confirmed the development.
However, according to the sources Salem’s name had been struck off the electoral rolls as he had not been residing in the area for the past many years.
Meanwhile Salem’s counsel Harjot Singh said he had moved the Election Commission to get Salem’s name included in the voter’s list but was rejected on the grounds that Salem was no more a resident of the area (Mubarakpur).
Mr Singh said that he could approach the court to get Salem’s name included in the voter’s list.
Salem, who hails from the Sarai Meer locality of Azamgarh, moved to Mumbai in the early 1990s, where he soon joined and moved up the ranks in the underworld network of Dawood Ibrahim. -PTI