Mau (Uttar Pradesh): Ahead of the seventh phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, Mau was arguably one of the most talked about seats in the Purvanchal (eastern) belt of the state.For the past five terms since 1996, the seat has been consolidated by Mukhtar Ansari, who has contested independently, switched parties and also fought the polls from jail. Mukhtar Ansari. Photo: By arrangementThis year, he has taken a backseat and his son, Abbas Ansari, is contesting for the second time. Abbas had unsuccessfully contested earlier from Gosi. This time, he hopes to win as candidate of the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party, which is in alliance with the Samajwadi Party.Abbas expresses confidence that he will win the polls with a bigger margin than the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s vote share from the Mau seat.“BJP ensured my father was not able to file his nomination. They created roadblocks ensuring that he does not contest this time. Akhilesh Yadav and O.P. Rajbhar have decided that I will contest from the seat and continue the legacy of our name,” he said.When asked about his reaction to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath having gone on record to state that he bulldozed his property, Abbas says the “chief minister claims many things.”“He has threatened to bulldoze our property again. This is what the BJP does, this has been their key strategy. But the key question is that one does not win an election by scaring the people of your region, you can’t scare your way to power for a long time. You win the polls by winning hearts. My father has led by example, he has won the seat for 25 years,” he says.Mau is also the stronghold of weavers. There are over 75,000 weavers in the region. An electricity subsidy which was first introduced by the Mulayam government in 2006 has grown to be a major issue this time. Adityanath has made key changes to the grant, introducing a refund policy instead of an outright discount. Weavers have been protesting against this.BSP’s state president Bhim Rajbhar, who Abbas said had campaigned on his behalf in the last assembly election, is also contesting from Mau. From the BJP, Ashok Kumar Singh is in the fray.