PATNA: Bihar state unit of Communist Party of India (CPI) has said it would support the rebel Congress candidate Shakeel Ahmad in Madhubani Lok Sabha constituency, a move that may spoil the Grand Alliance (GA) candidate's efforts to wrest the seat from the BJP.

“The trend of voting in the first four phases in Bihar has made it clear that voters are generally against the BJP. Hence, in order to ensure the defeat of BJP, we have decided to extend our support to Independent candidate Dr Shakeel Ahmad in Madhubani,” CPI state secretary Satya Narayan Singh said here on Wednesday.

The CPI has also decided to extend its support to the Aam Aadmi Party’s Raghunath Kumar in Sitamarhi Lok Sabha constituency and the Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI) candidate Mohammad Idris from Muzaffarpur seat, Singh said.

In Madhubani, the GA has fielded Badri Kumar Purbey, a former RJD leader who joined the fledgeling Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) few days before filing nomination as the VIP candidate. Whereas the BJP has fielded its sitting MP Hukumdev Narayan Yadav’s son and former MLA Ashok Yadav who is trying his best to retain the seat.

The CPI’s decision to support rebel Congress leader in Madhubani is being seen as a rebuke to Lalu Prasad’s RJD, the largest constituent of the opposition’s grand alliance in Bihar, which had out rightly rejected an appeal by the CPI’s general secretary Sudhakar Reddy who had asked the RJD to retire its candidate from Begusarai in favour of the former JNUSU president and CPI nominee Kanhaiya Kumar.

Earlier, Madhubani used to be a strong form of the CPI. The party’s veteran Bhogendra Jha had won the seat five times and its another senior leader Chaturanan Mishra in 1996. Mishra also served as union agriculture minister in the United Front government.

Shakeel Ahmad, who won Madhubani seat in 1998 and 2004, was denied symbol from the Congress as the seat went into the kitty of the VIP as part of the seat-sharing among the GA partners. Ahmad had filed his nomination papers in two sets—one as a Congress candidate while another as an independent. After the Congress refused him a symbol, he withdrew his first sent of nomination and decided to contest as an independent candidate. Now he is giving sleepless night to the GA candidate Purbey as whatever would the gain of Ahmad, it would be a loss to Purbe.

