In a big setback for Kirti Azad, clouds of doubts over his candidature from the Darbhanga Lok Sabha seat seem to have settled and the outcome is surely not pleasing. Ex- BJP Parliamentarian and former cricketer Kirti Azad is a three-term MP from Bihar’s Darbhanga. After joining the Congress Kirti Azad staked his claim for his ‘family seat’ Darbhanga. However, Congresse’s lackluster efforts have hindered Kirtis’ political plans.
According to the seat sharing agreement of Congress and its alliance partner RJD in the state, Darbhanga constituency comes under the fold of RJD. RJD supremo Lalu Prasad has been insistent on the seat to remain with the RJD; Kirti Azad has made more than 10 trips to meet the jailed Lalu Prasad Yadav but has not been successful in changing his mind over the Darbhanga constituency. Lalu Yadav infamous for his self centric political decisions has, by this move posed questions on the BJP rebel’s political future.
Congress still claiming moral authority over the Darbhanga constituency has surely disheartened Kirti Azad with its torpid attempts. State Congress president Madan Mohan Jha, passing the buck, when approached with queries about the RJD’s claim, said Darbhanga was an “important seat”, but a final call will be taken by the party’s high command.
Maintaining RJD’s stand, RJD MLA and chief state spokesman Bhai Virendra said ‘Darbhanga is our traditional seat. We have won it many times. Even in the 2014 polls, which were swept by the BJP-led NDA, our candidate lost the battle by a thin margin.’
‘We would therefore like to contest the seat again and field Abdul Bari Siddiqui this time. A formal announcement would be made shortly,’ he also added.
Citing the caste equation in the region, Congress leader Rishi Mishra said ‘Darbhanga can be called the epicenter of Mithila region and Maithil Brahmins have traditionally been Congress supporters. We must respect their sentiments….If a Maithil Brahmin like Kirti Azad does not fight from Darbhanga, what is the point in fielding him from some other region,’.
Kirti Azad was in the highlight when he retracted his allegations against DDCA and cricketer-turned-politician Chetan Chauhan. Involvement of Arun Jaitley was also alleged in the irregularities at DDCA. Consequently a defamation suit was filed against him by DDCA and Chetan Chauhan. Azad, who was granted bail had sought quashing of the complaint on the ground that he was merely sitting beside former cricketer Surinder Khanna during a press conference and had not made any imputations against the cricketing body. Kirti had also alleged irregularities in the Rafael deal.
https://twitter.com/KirtiAzadMP/status/1081157749927374850
Kirti Azad has been one of the most outspoken critics of the BJP, he was quite vocal about his criticism for the party over which he was suspended from the BJP. However, changing of ships has also not beared fruits for Kirti’s political ambitions. Congress seems to have given in to RJD pressure on Darbhanga seat and left Kirti Azad in the midst of a political conundrum. Unconfirmed reports that the Congress was planning to field Azad from Dhanbad in the neighboring state of Jharkhand if the RJD remained adamant on Darbhanga are also floating.
