Make Yakub Memon's wife Rajya Sabha MP, says Samajwadi Party leader

Amid ongoing politics over the hanging of 1993 blasts convict Yakub Memon, Mohammed Farooq Ghosi, vice-president of Samajwadi Party Maharashtra unit has demanded that Memon's wife Raheen should be made a Member of Parliament (MP).

In his letter to SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Ghosi on Friday, a day after Yakub's hanging, said Raheen has suffered a lot and she should be made an MP so that she can raise a voice for other such 'helpless and needy' people in Parliament.

"Raheen was also arrested alongwith her husband Yakub Memon. Later, she was released by the honourable court after spending several years in the jail and had suffered," said Ghosi.

"You (Mulayam Singh Yadav) are our leader and have always supported the needy and helpless people. Today I can see that Raheen is also helpless like other Muslims in the country. We should try to give voice to such people by making Raheen a Member of Parliament," added Ghosi.

State party president Abu Asim Azmi, however, distanced himself from the matter, saying that an explanation will be sought from Ghosi on the content of his letter.

"He (Ghosi) has not consulted the party before making irresponsible comments. He has written the letter in his personal capacity. He will be asked to explain his stand, following which necessary action will be taken against him," said Azmi.

Congress said the decision to hang Memon was taken by the Supreme Court and should thus, not be politicised.

"This is their internal party matter. But it seems more like their tacit agenda to communalise the issue. The decision to hang Memon was taken by the Supreme Court and thus the matter should not be politicised now," Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said.

BJP leader Madhav Bhandari said Ghosi's comments prove that SP is only interested in playing vote-bank politics and that the party should come out and clear its stand on the issue.

"Every person has the right to suggest something to his party. But every leader needs to show some constraint while making suggestions. SP has to clear its stand and if he is acting against party line, then party should take some serious action. This is sheer exploitation of votebank politics," he said.

Yakub Memon, the lone death convict in the 1993 serial blasts, was hanged in Nagpur Jail on Thursday after the last-ditch efforts by his lawyers to save him from the gallows failed to bear any results.