Azamgarh, Feb 13 (IANS): Lal Bihari 'Mritak', who remained dead in revenue records for years, is contesting the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election from Mubarakpur seat in Azamgarh district.

He had also contested the elections unsuccessfully in the past to prove that he is "alive".

Lal Bihari Mritak is the founder of the 'Mritak Sangh' (Uttar Pradesh Association of Dead People) that has thousands of members in the country and fights for those who have been fraudulently declared dead in revenue records.

"I am committed to fight for the justice to those people who are dead in the government records," said Lal Bihari, who suffixes 'Mritak' (deceased) with his name.

"Though I won my battle in court to prove that I am alive, there are still thousands of 'living dead' people in Uttar Pradesh alone who are living but have been declared dead in revenue records," he said.

According to him, he was 21 when he was declared dead in revenue records on July 30, 1976, allegedly at the behest of his relatives who wanted to usurp his property.

After a struggle of 18 years, he was declared alive on June 30, 1994. He is still fighting a legal battle against the state government for compensation for his lost years after filing a claim of Rs 25 crore in the Allahabad High Court against the state government in 1994.

Earlier, he had contested three Lok Sabha elections and three Vidhan Sabha polls.

For the first time, he had contested the Lok Sabha elections from Allahabad in 1988 followed by the 1989 polls from Amethi against late Rajiv Gandhi.

He also contested the Assembly elections from Mubarakpur seat in 1991, 2002 and 2007, and Lalganj seat in 2004.

He also has a film based on his life, 'Kaagaz' directed by Satish Kaushik. Pankaj Tripathi played the role of Mritak.