The BJP has declared criminal cases against 25 of its candidates in Uttar Pradesh out of the 107 candidates named in its first list of candidates declared last week, media reported. These 25 candidates include Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya. 

The party has justified giving tickets to these candidates saying there were implicated in cases due to “political rivalry”. 

Declaring that Maurya, who is contesting from Sirathu in Kaushambi district, faces four criminal cases, the BJP – in its declaration on the reason for selections of the candidate – said that the deputy CM is “extremely popular” not only in the constituency but across the state, adding that his candidature was forwarded by the district unit of the party on the basis of his “merit, his social work and work in the field of upliftment of the people”. 

“He (Maurya) has been implicated in cases due to political rivalry, hence he has been preferred over the other candidates,” the BJP declaration says regarding Keshav Prasad Maurya. 

(With inputs from agencies)