Addressing a rally in Bhadohi where Assembly bypoll is scheduled to be held on February 26, Mayawati said, “Atiq Ahmed was never in my party, he would never be in my party and there is no question of giving him party ticket in the Lok Sabha.”

Ahmed, who is currently in Naini central jail, is facing several criminal charges, including the murder of BSP legislator Raju Pal.“Atiq Ahmed is the murderer of my party’s legislator,” Mayawati said, adding that no one from his family will join BSP.

Recently, the Opposition had tried to corner Mayawati after criminal-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari was inducted into BSP.

With this announcement, she also ruled out any change in BSP’s candidates from Purvanchal during the Lok Sabha elections.

“Kapil Muni Karveriya and Ashok Bajpai would fight the Lok Sabha elections from Phoolpur and Allahabad seats and there won’t be any change in other seats in Purvanchal,” she said.

She urged the voters to ensure her party’s victory in the Bhadohi Assembly seat. The Bhadohi assembly seat was lying vacant after the death of Archana Saroj, the sitting BSP MLA.