NIA court allows accused to contest UP elections: Major (retd) Ramesh Upadhyay seeks bail for a month to campaign

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Upadhyay’s son, Vishal, who in 2012 had represented him as a campaign manager, said he had begun approaching local leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party to look at the possibility of being granted a ticket. “We are hoping that he can be released on interim bail to campaign in the constitutency so that he can communicate with the voters directly. From the impression I got when he had contested in 2012, it seems clear people are willing to give him a chance. This tag of being branded as a terrorist is politically motivated. The important thing is the belief people showed in him,” Vishal told The Indian Express. He added that he was also in talks with the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha or Upadhyay may contest as an independent candidate.

Upadhyay, who is currently lodged at the Taloja central jail, was arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad in 2008 for his alleged role in the blast which occurred at Malegaon near Nashik on September 30, killing six and injuring 101.

The NIA, which filed its supplemenatary chargesheet in the case in April, has named him as an accused, stating that he had proposed and accepted the theory of co-accused Prasad Purohit for a separate constitution for Hindu Rashtra with a separate flag in a meeting held in January 2008 at Faridabad.

The NIA has also referred to an intercepted conversation between Purohit and Upadhyay, which the agency claims shows their “complicity” in the case. Currently, the court is hearing arguments on the framing of charges in the case. Upadhyay’s bail plea filed before the special court was rejected in November.

Special public prosecutor Avinash Rasal said NIA special Judge S D Tekale had allowed the plea filed by Upadhyay to contest elections. Upadhyay has sought permission to travel to his constituency between February 4 and March 4 to campaign among the voters. In his plea, he has submitted before the court that since the voters have not seen him for the past 15 years, he should be allowed to campaign amongst them to discuss his manifesto. The filing of nominations of candidates is likely to start in February first week.