Rampur, March 27: As the 2019 Lok Sabha elections are on the head, political parties are busy announcing the candidates for parliamentary constituencies. In a shocking development from Uttar Pradesh, 36-year-old Shambhulal Regar, who hacked to death a Muslim migrant worker in Rajasthan's Rajsamand in December 2017, is all set to contest the general polls from Rampur on a ticket from Uttar Pradesh Navnirman Sena (UPNS).

Regar, currently lodged at Rajasthan's Jodhpur Central Jail as an undertrial, was earlier planning to contest from Agra but now will be fighting against Samajwadi party's general secretary Azam Khan and newly joined Bharatiya Janata Party's member and veteran actress Jaya Prada. Jaya Prada Joins BJP at Party Headquarters in Delhi, to Contest 2019 Lok Sabha Polls From Rampur.

In December 2017, Regar had allegedly murdered a West Bengal migrant, Mohammed Afrazul, and later burnt him. A video of the incident also went viral, in which, he justified himself by saying that he burnt Afrazul to "save a girl from love Jihad". For the heinous act, Regar was booked under nine sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including murder, and criminal conspiracy.

The Uttar Pradesh Navnirman Sena's national president Amit Jani also said that party is planning to field Hari Om Sisodia, one of the accused of lynching Mohammad Akhlaq in September 2015, from Noida.

Earlier, when asked about why the party is giving a ticket to a murderer, Jani said, "Regar is not a convict, but only a murder accused. The law allows him to contest elections." He had also pointed out on poll victories of Raja Bhaiya, Mukhtar Ansari and Muhammad Shahabuddin, who were also facing similar criminal charges.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 27, 2019 04:27 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).