Lawrence Bishnoi gets offer to contest Maharashtra elections 2024: 'We see Shaheed Bhagat Singh in you'

Jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi has received an offer to contest in the Maharashtra assembly elections. A political party named Uttar Bharatiya Vikas Sena (UBVS) wrote to Bishnoi requesting him to contest elections in Maharashtra. The UBVS has is registered with the Election Commission of India and the Maharashtra State Election Commission. 

The letter signed by UBVS national president Sunil Shukla said that the names of 4 candidates of North Indian Development Army have been finalised to contest elections in Mumbai.

He mentioned that if Lawrence Bishnoi approves, the list of 50 candidates will be announced soon. 

""We are proud that you are a North Indian born in Punjab and we are a national and Maharashtra state registered political party in the name of North Indian born in Punjab and we are a national and Maharashtra state registered political party in the name of North Indian Development Army, which is working for the rights of North Indians in India," Shukla said in a letter. 

He also mentioned that how north Indians are deprived of reservations in Maharashtra simply of their ancestry. 

Shukla said: "We see Shaheed Bhagat Singh in you. North Indians coming from Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, and 5 other north Indian states, who were born and brought up in Maharashtra, who were OBCs, SCs and STs, have been deprived of reservation only because their ancestors were North Indians. If India is a unit, then, why are we deprived of this right?"

Lawrence Bishnoi was last in the news after Bollywood superstar Salman Khan got a threat from one of the former's alleged gang members. An alleged member of the Bishnoi gang demanded Rs 5 crore from Salman Khan to settle his long-standing feud with the gangster. 

"If Salman Khan wants to stay alive and wants to end the enmity with Lawrence Bishnoi, then he will have to pay Rs 5 crore. Do not take this lightly, otherwise Salman Khan's condition will be worse than Baba Siddiqui," the message read.

Despite being lodged in Gujarat's Sabarmati Central Jail, his influence extends globally. Bishnoi is known for operating a vast criminal network from jail involved in extortion and contract killings including Sidhu Moosewala and Baba Siddique.