It might be a matter of much disappointment for both the RJD and the lJP as the Congress has decided to field Jitendra Swami for Maharajganj by-election, scheduled for June 2.
Jitendra Swami is the son of RJD MP Umashankar Singh whose death necessitated the by-election for Maharajganj seat.
It was widely expected that Jitendra Swami will be fielded by the RJD following the death of Umashankar Singh but ultimately the Congress decided to field him when the RJD denied him the ticket.
The Congress had fielded Tarkeshwar Singh in the 2009 lok Sabha election. He had managed to get nearly 82,000 votes and was on the third position in the poll result.
Chief of the State Congress Media Cell told The Pioneer that Jitendra Swamy will file nomination papers for the by-poll in presence of State Congress president Ashok Choudhary and other senior party leaders on Tuesday.
Prabhunath Singh, known for his strong-arm tactics had contested Maharajganj lok Sabha election in 2009 on the JD(U) ticket but lost to the RJD candidate Umashankar Singh by a slender margin.
“Since we got a formidable candidate in Jitendra Swamy, we decided to field him from Maharajganj lok Sabha seat,” he added.
The Congress’s decision to field a candidate from Maharajganj has a special significance in the backdrop of the fact that the lok Sabha election is only nearly one year away.
The Congress has surely started gearing up itself for the next general elections, apparently without depending on either the RJD or the lJP.
Party vice-president Rahul Gandhi had picked a young Dalit leader Ashok Choudhary for refurbishing the image of the party, which was battered severely while it was sharing power with the RJD in the State prior to the NDA regime.
Sources claimed that the party’s rank and file are in the favour of contesting the 2014 lok Sabha elections without any alliance.
Only a few senior Congress leaders want to contest the election in alliance with the RJD or the lJP as a pre-poll alliance will improve their chances of victory in the election significantly, sources added.
Meanwhile, senior JD(U) leader and State Education Minister PK Shahi filed his nomination papers for Maharajganj lok Sabha seat on Monday.
He was accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, BJP general secretary Rajiv Pratat Rudy, State JD(U) president Vashishtha Narayan Singh and several NDA Ministers at the time of filing of the nomination papers in Chapra.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has exuded confidence that people will vote in favour of the NDA candidate in view of the good development works being done by his Government and also peace and harmony prevailing among all sections of the society.