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Journalism of Courage
In the first jolt for Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party (JSP), the Election Commission of India objected to its Tarari bypoll candidate and former vice-chief of Army Staff Lt. Gen (retired) SK Singh on the ground that he’s not a voter from the state, forcing the party to replace him with social activist Kiran Singh.
According to the ECI, Lt. Gen (retired) SK Singh, who had been a voter of Tarari till 2020, had got himself listed in the electoral roll in Noida, where he resided.
“It’s mandatory for a candidate to be a voter in a state before they file nomination for contesting from any place in that state,” one official said.
However, according to Kishor, Singh had applied to have his name included in Tarari’s electoral roll.
“We’re a new entrant in electoral politics and are found to face our share of initial resistance. We have been observing that the system is very much pro-establishment,” Kishor told reporters Wednesday.
Announcing Kiran Singh as JSP’s new candidate from Tarari, the outfit’s working president Manoj Bharti said: “Kiran Singh has been a social activist, fighting for the cause of education in the area for some time now”.
The social activist said she was familiar with the constituency. “I have been working in this area to improve the quality of primary education. I’m known to people in this area,” she said.
The outfit also replaced its Belaganj candidate Mohammed Khilafat Hussain, an academician, with Mohammed Amjad, who previously voiced his support for Hussain’s candidature.
Mohammed Amjad “had been under pressure from his supporters to contest polls”, Kishor said.
“We’re aware of media criticism but we want to keep things transparent. Mohammed Amjad had unsuccessfully contested the 2005 and 2010 Assembly polls. In 2010, he was JD (U) nominee and had lost by merely 4,100 votes,” he said.
Kishor’s party has also announced candidates from Ramgarh and Imamganj. While JSP has fielded former BSP leader Sushil Kushwaha from Ramgarh, medical practitioner Jitendra Paswan is its candidate from Imamganj.
JSP working president Manoj Bharti said: “Sushil Kushwaha has worked closely with prominent Dalit leader Kanshi Ram for over three decades”. Kushwaha promised to ensure “a university like Banaras Hindu University (BHU)” in Kaimur.
All four Assembly seats will hold bypolls on 13 November. The elections were necessitated after its MLAs were elected to Lok Sabha this year.
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