Ahmad is Rashtriya Lok Dal's council candidate

LUCKNOW: The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) on Thursday announced the name of Chaudhary Mushtaq Ahmad as its candidate for legislative council polls. The announcement of a Muslim candidate by RLD gains significance in the light of the ongoing spat within SP ranks with Imam of Jama Masjid, Ahmad Bukhari accusing Mulayam Singh Yadav of ignoring the interests of Muslims.
An old timer RLD worker, Ahmad (56), has his association with the party since 1980 when he was appointed as RLD general secretary of Muzzaffarnagar unit by Chaudhary Charan Singh, the veteran farmer leader and father of RLD chief Ajit Singh.According to party national secretary, Girish Kumar Chaudhary, Ahmad is presently RLD's president of Saharanpur division. RLD had contested UP assembly elections in alliance with Congress winning 37 seats together (RLD won nine seats, while Congress won 28 seats). Earlier the Ajit Singh led RLD had compromised with the Congress on nominating the Rajya Sabha MP.
tnnNow, the Congress has reciprocated by helping an RLD candidate get into the legislative council.
The two together needed 29 seats to elect an MLC. This way, the RLD-Congress combine was able to get one seat with eight votes in spare. It now remains to be seen as to how these eight votes will be used by the two parties.
Interestingly, at least half a dozen senior leaders and former MLAs of RLD, who after losing their seat in the assembly polls, had been aspiring for a MLC seat.