A group of Muslim religious leaders has opposed Atiq Ahmed’s nomination by the Samajwadi Party from Sultanpur constituency for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, saying an outsider would not be acceptable.
The maulanas and imams yesterday staged a protest in front of the zila panchayat office and said the candidature of Atiq, who has several criminal cases pending against him, was not acceptable to them.
They urged Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav to field the earlier announced candidate Shakeel Ahmed.
Maulana Sharfuddin, Maulana Mohd. Aslam Ansari, Maulana Kutubuddin, Hafiz Akbar Ali, Hafiz Mohd. Akbal, Kari Ayub, Kari Tauqir and Maulana Akbar Siddiqui were among those who took part in the protest.
The SP had on Friday last declared Atiq Ahmed as its nominee from the Sultanpur seat in place of Shakeel Ahmed.