SP to field Dr Kafeel Khan in upcoming Uttar Pradesh MLC polls

The Samajwadi Party on Tuesday decided to field the Gorakhpur paediatrician Dr Kafeel Khan for the upcoming MLC elections in Uttar Pradesh, which will be held on April 9.

Kafeel Khan is likely to be fielded from the Devariya-Kushinagar seat won by SP's Ramavadh Yadav in 2016.

"Yes, Dr Kafeel Khan will be our candidate," Rajendra Chaudhary, the SP's national secretary said.

Kafeel Khan, who made headlines after the 2017 BRD Hospital tragedy, met SP chief Akhilesh Yadav at the party office in Lucknow on Tuesday. He also presented Yadav with a copy of his book - The Gorakhpur Hospital Tragedy.

Also, earlier on Tuesday, Dr Kafeel Khan had met SP national president and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, presenting to him a copy of his book, 'The Gorakhpur Hospital Tragedy.'

He tweeted: "Met with Honourable Former Chief Minister Shri @yadavakhilesh and presented him a copy of #TheGorakhpurHospitalTragedy," Khan posted on Twitter.

In November last year, the UP government terminated the services of Dr Khan, who was a paediatrician at Gorakhpur's Baba Raghav Das (BRD) medical college, where, in August 2017, as many as 63 children died due to shortage of oxygen.

In April 2018, he was granted bail by the Allahabad high court which observed that there was no proof of medical negligence against the doctor in the case.

The polling for Uttar Pradesh MLC elections will be held for 36 seats in 35 local bodies in the country's most populous state. The counting of votes will be held on April 12.

However, as per the original schedule, votes were to be cast on March 3 for 29 local bodies and March 7 for the remaining six local bodies. This schedule was later revised on the request of political parties as the state was already slated to hold assembly elections at the time. Uttar Pradesh voted in seven phases--February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27, March 3 and 7--while the counting of votes took place on March 10.