BSP declares Shahin Bano as Lucknow mayoral candidate

LUCKNOW: BSP declared Shahin Bano as its mayoral candidate for Lucknow municipal corporation on Friday. She is the second candidate from the Muslim community to be declared by the party for mayoral polls. On Tuesday, BSP had declared Khadija Masood as the candidate for Saharanpur mayoral seat.

The announcement of Bano's name was made by BSP MLC and in charge of the party's Lucknow division, Bhimrao Ambedkar along with the names of 30 other candidates for various wards of LMC.

Bano has been associated with the Bahujan Samaj Party since 2016 as an active party worker.

She is also the wife of Mohammad Sarwar Malik, BSP leader who had contested the 2022 UP assembly elections from Lucknow North constituency.

Bano is a social worker, who has also handled her husband's political campaigns, when he contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections on Trinamool Congress' ticket and the 2022 UP assembly elections on the BSP ticket.

BSP national president Mayawati has directed senior leaders of her party to select candidates whose win will bring a change in the lives of people there for good. Considering that Bano has worked through her NGO to help the needy during the pandemic and got the women from the weaker sections get married, her candidature may fit the bill.