New Delhi:
Congress has fielded Imran Masood again from Saharanpur Lok Sabha seat in western Uttar Pradesh. Mr Masood, a prominent Muslim leader, has previously stood for Congress twice from Saharanpur. However, both times he failed to win.
5 Facts About Imran Masood:
1. Imran Masood was born on April 21, 1971, to Rashid Masood in Gangoh, Uttar Pradesh. He is the nephew of former Union minister Rasheed Masood. In his 15 years in politics, Imran Masood has worked in Congress, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and now Congress again.
2. He ventured into politics in 2006 and was elected chairman of the Saharanpur Municipal Council. Just a year later, he won from the Muzaffarabad seat in his first parliamentary election as an independent candidate. In 2012, Mr Masood contested elections from Nakur constituency and was defeated by BSP’s Dharam Singh Saini.
3. Ahead of the 2014 general elections, Imran Masood created a huge controversy after he threatened to chop up Narendra Modi. He was arrested for the hate speech. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, he lost the Saharanpur seat to the BJP’s Raghav Lakhanpal.
4. In 2017, Imran Masood, the joint candidate of the Samajwadi Party and Congress, contested the UP Assembly elections from the Nakur seat. He lost to BJP’s Dharam Singh Saini. In 2019, Mr Masood suffered another drubbing when he lost the Saharanpur Lok Sabha seat to BSP’s Haji Fazlur Rehman.
5. Ahead of the 2022 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Imran Masood left the Congress and joined the Samajwadi Party. However, this switch was short-lived and he soon joined the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party. He suggested that the BSP should join the INDIA bloc and praised Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi. He was expelled from the BSP for violation of party discipline. In 2023, Imran Masood returned to Congress and described it as his “ghar wapsi” or homecoming.