Mayawati unanimously re-elected as BSP President

Lucknow, Aug. 28 (IANS): Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati was unanimously re-elected as party President on Wednesday. This was announced after a meeting of the party's national office-bearers. In a statement released after the meeting, Mayawati reiterated her commitment to the Bahujan movement initiated by BR Ambedkar and taken forward by BSP's late founder Kanshi Ram. She said the BSP would never compromise with its ideology and principles and would continue to work for the weaker sections of society. Mayawati later announced candidates for the 12 Assembly seats where by-elections are to be held. The candidate for the Jalalpur seat that was won by the BSP in 2017 has not been declared. Though the party has not officially announced the names of candidates, sources said that Qayyum Ansari will be the BSP candidate from the Ghosi seat, Raj Narain Nirala from Manikpur seat, Naushad Ali from Hamirpur, Akhilesh Ambedkar from Zaidpur, Ramesh Gautam from Balha and Sunil Kumar from Tundla.