LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Raj Babbar declined to contest from Moradabad constituency and instead sought out Fatehpur Sikri Lok Sabha seat on Friday.
Congress, in its second list for the general election, fielded the actor-turned-politician from Muradabad.
The decision to field him from Moradabad was criticised by many. The All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat (AIMMM) president Navaid Hamid questioned why did the party field actor-politician Raj Babbar from Muradabad when any Muslim candidate could have easily won from the seat.
In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Babbar had contested the election from Ghaziabad but had lost the seat of VK Singh.
Raj Babbar entered politics by joining Janata Dal in 1989, which was led by VP Singh. He later joined Samajwadi Party and was elected as Member of Parliament of India three times. From 1994 to 1999 he was a member of Rajya Sabha. He was re-elected in the 14th Lok Sabha elections for his second term in 2004.
Babbar was suspended from Samajwadi Party in 2006 following which he joined Congress and got elected for the fourth time the member of Parliament in 2009, by defeating Dimple Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav's wife and Mulayam Singh Yadav's daughter-in-law.
Babbar had created a controversy in 2013 when he stated that a common man can afford a full meal with Rs 12 in Mumbai, which invoked severe criticism from all over. The same year, he stoked another controversial remark when he compared Narendra Modi to Adolf Hitler.
