Having failed to get relief from the Jharkhand High Court in criminal cases he had been convicted by a lower court, former MlA of lohardaga and AJSU leader Kamal Kishor Bhagat seems to have found the final trump card to retain his forte in the Assembly constituency bound to undergo a bypoll.
The 45-year-old AJSU leader has decided to get married on Sunday, October 4 just three days ahead of his surrender following the Jharkhand HC order. Bhagat, who is presently on bail, will surrender in the court on October 7 after the HC recently upheld the lower court’s decision granting seven–year RI to him.
Both Bhagat and his friend Alester Bodra were found guilty of extortion and attempt to murder in 1993 involving renowned neuro-physician Dr KK Sinha resulting in immediate his disqualification from the membership of the State Assembly on June 23, 2015.
Although the former MlA had secured bail and was expecting relief from the HC amid fervent demand of his party supporting the ruling coalition in Jharkhand that the case should be reinvestigated by a special investigation team, the HC upheld the decision of the lower court. The High Court, however, reduced the sentence tenure from seven to five years and ordered Bhagat to surrender within 15 days.
“Kamal Kishor Bhagat will get married at Jhakhra Kumba tomorrow at 11 am with Niru Shanti Bhagat Kujur,” said Suraj Agarwal, central secretary of AJSU party. Kujur, a 35-year-old woman, is resident of Ghaghra in Gumla and works as a nursing staff at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences in Ranchi. The party members are preparing for the same, said Agarwal.
On being asked about the sudden decision, Bhagat said that he had to complete this long pending work soon. “I did not want to get married but the party workers put too much pressure on me. Then I talked to my parents yesterday. The decision was also taken on Friday.”
On being asked about the chances of Bhagat fielding his wife in the upcoming bypoll, party spokesperson Deosharan Bhagat said that the marriage has been pending since long and the decision to field a candidate in lohardaga would be taken after the marriage.
Incidentally, lohardaga bypoll would be very crucial to decide political life of both JPCC chief Sukhdeo Bhagat and AJSU leader KK Bhagat. The JPCC chief has been camping in the constituency to put his best before the polls, while the BJP is in support of the AJSU, which will decide the candidate very soon, said party insiders.