The MP from Darbhanga looks set to join the Congress but faces stiff competition in the opposition coalition for a ticket from the constituency.
Patna: After his unsuccessful battle with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, which resulted in his suspension from the BJP, cricketer-turned-politician Kirti Azad is confronted with a new challenge as he prepares to switch loyalties to the Congress-led alliance in Bihar.
Azad, the MP from the Darbhanga parliamentary seat, has not joined any party yet but it is an open secret that he is set to be inducted into the Congress and will stake his claim for the Darbhanga ticket.
He, however, faces an uphill battle to retain the ticket for the seat as there are a number of heavyweight contenders from the opposition coalition.
There is the old guard vying for the seat in the form of Mohammad Ali Ashraf Fatmi, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader who once served as a union minister and Abdul Bari Siddiqui, another old RJD warhorse and Lalu faithful.
The biggest challenge, though, will come from Vikasshil Insaan Party (VIP) chief Mukesh Sahani, a prominent backward caste leader who is from the region.
Sahani, who calls himself the Son of Mallah, which refers to a section of extremely backward castes who were traditionally fishermen and boatmen, is known to be a money bag, having made his fortune with Mukesh Cineworld Private Limited, which designs Bollywood sets.
Sahani had run away from his home in Supaul Bazar village at the age of 19 in 1999. Having started work as a salesman in Mumbai, he made his way up to the movie industry.
A rising force
Politically unknown till 2014, Sahani shot to prominence after sharing the stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the election campaign. Sahani launched himself into Bihar politics by holding a successful rally in Darbhanga in 2014 demanding that Mallah caste is included in the Dalit category.
Sahani is known to be generous to members of his caste, who are a substantial population in Darbhanga. “Sahani has become an icon for the backward castes in Bihar. A man who has made it in Mumbai,” said a senior RJD leader. “There will also be no shortage of funds to match the resources of the NDA candidate.”
RJD leaders want Azad to choose another constituency as he has already been MP for two consecutive terms and anti-incumbency is bound to hit him.
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Azad unperturbed
For now, however, the former cricketer appears unperturbed. “Darbhanga has had many MPs who were Maithil Brahmins like me. But none of them managed to win the seat twice, including former union minister L.N. Mishra and late Bihar CM Vinodanand Jha,” Azad said.
“I have been elected from the constituency thrice. In fact, the BJP won the seat for the first time in 1999 when I was fielded there.”
He added that he has been honest with the people of “Darbhanga like my late father (former Bihar CM Bhagwat Jha Azad)”.
“Have you seen a photograph of me with the likes of Brajesh Thakur (the main accused in the Muzaffarpur girls shelter home sexual abuse case),” Azad said, in an obvious pot-shot at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
The number of prominent contenders put the opposition coalition in a spot as it will now have to decide between a former cricketer, a backward caste man with a rags-to-riches tale and traditional politicians such as Fatmi and Siddiqui.
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