Abu Salem's lawyer floats political party

Jail bars have not dampened the political aspirations of extradited gangster Abu Salem and he now has a political banner set up by his lawyer under which he can contest the coming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in his hometown Mubarakpur. Counsel for Salem Ashok Sarogi said today he had formed Rashtriya Samajwadi Party through which his client could contest the UP state elections in 2007.

"We had applied (Election Commission) to form the party in August this year and we have just received approval for the same. The party will provide a fresh outlook for the people who are tired of existing parties," Sarogi said. Satyendra Singh Yadav, a small-time Bollywood actor, had been chosen as the president of the party while he would be its general secretary, Sarogi said.

The party, which has an "undisclosed number of members", will have motorcycle as its symbol and it will get its first taste of electoral politics during the upcoming civic polls in the city for which it intends to field candidates. The party also intends to contest at least 20 seats in the UP Assembly elections including Salem's hometown of Mubarakpur.

"The main agenda of the party will to be to oppose the high-handedness of the police and expose corruption. Also, a major point we will take up during the UP polls is non-payment of dues to embroidery workers who are at present working at units in Mubarakpur," Sarogi said. And Salem's response to the creation of the new party? "He is content with the formation of the party and is looking forward to contesting the elections next year. He has not yet taken membership of the party but is expected to contest under this political banner," Sarogi said. (Agencies)