Niece’s challenge to Meira Kumar in Sasaram ends in tears

Medhavi Kirti’s plan to take on her aunt, Lok Sabha Speaker and Congress nominee Meira Kumar on the Sasaram seat, all but ended in tears on Thursday.

Medhavi Kirti’s plan to take on her aunt, Lok Sabha Speaker and Congress nominee Meira Kumar on the Sasaram seat, all but ended in tears on Thursday.

Kirti, the granddaughter of eight-time Sasaram MP and former Deputy Prime Minister Babu Jagjivan Ram, filed her nomination for the Lok Sabha elections as a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) nominee.

But she could not produce ‘Form B’ signed by party president Mayawati, which would have established her credentials as the BSP’s official nominee.

Sources said Kirti’s nomination is liable to be rejected, during scrutiny on Friday, nipping in the bud her latest challenge to her aunt.

Born to Babuji’s son Suresh Ram and Kamal, Kirti is driven by the belief that after the untimely death of her father in 1986, at the age of 46, her grandfather’s political mantle should have fallen upon her.

Instead, the legacy went to Meira, Babuji’s daughter, who is now seeking her sixth term in the Lok Sabha after quitting the Indian Foreign Service in 1985 to join politics. “She filed her papers as a BSP nominee but could not submit the required authorisation. She had even crossed out the form that could have allowed her to be in the fray as an independent,” said an official.

The BSP symbol instead went to local party leader Baleshwar Bharti, causing Kirti to cry foul and blame her aunt and a section of local BSP leaders for the “conspiracy”.

She burst into tears when she got to know her nomination papers were likely to be rejected as the ‘symbol’ allotted to Bharti had not been rescinded by the BSP leadership.

Dismissing the claims as “baseless”, Meira responded: “I am with my constituents, who love me. I have no time to think about these issues.”

Local leaders said Kirti’s entry into the Sasaram poll fray as the official BSP nominee would have significantly impacted the prospects of other claimants — Congress’ Meira Kumar, BJP’s Chhedi Paswan and JD(U)’s KP Ramaiah.

“The BSP had polled around 1 lakh votes in the previous election and won the Mohania and Chainpur assembly seats in 1995 and 2000. Even if she did not win, Kirti could have affected the prospects of her rivals,” said a BSP leader.