Shambhulal Regar, Who Hacked Man to Death on Camera, 'Set to Contest' From Agra in 2019 Lok Sabha Elections

Lucknow, Sept 17: 36-year-old Shambhulal Regar, who hacked to death a Muslim migrant worker in Rajasthan's Rajsamand last year, may contest the Lok Sabha elections in 2019. A far-right party in Uttar Pradesh claimed that it has "convinced" Regar to contest on their ticket from Agra constituency.

A newly floated outfit, Uttar Pradesh Navnirman Sena, said Regar will contest on their ticket from Agra on the sole agenda of "Hindutva". The party's national president Amit Jani said there could be no better candidate than Regar who could safeguard the interests of the Hindus of Agra.

Notably, Regar is lodged in Jodhpur jail since December last year, after he murder Mohammed Afrazul, a labourer from West Bengal. The killing was live-streamed by him on Facebook. Justifying the heinous crime, Regar said Afrazul had to be killed as he "committed love jihad". The police, however, dismissed the allegation levelled by him against the deceased.

From Agra, the incumbent lawmaker is Bharatiya Janata Party's Ram Shankar Katheria, who is also the chairman of the National Commission of Scheduled Castes (NCSC).

Agra has witnessed massive communal polarisation in the past few years. Katheria, the sitting MP, faced allegation of hate speech while addressing a gathering in the city in February 2016.

Jani, on being asked whether his party is not averse towards giving ticket to a murderer, replied, "Regar is not a convict, but only a murder accused. The law allows him to contest elections." He further pointed out the poll victories of Mukhtar Ansari, Raja Bhaiya of western UP and Muhammad Shahabuddin of Bihar, who are facing similar criminal charges.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 17, 2018 11:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).