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Convicted AJSU leader Bhagat ties knot, wife may contest bypoll
Convicted two-time AJSU legislator Kamal Kishore Bhagat married staff nurse Neeru Shanti at Lohardaga on Sunday three days before serving a five-year jail term, a move which experts say has political ramifications.
Convicted two-time AJSU legislator Kamal Kishore Bhagat married staff nurse Neeru Shanti at Lohardaga on Sunday three days before serving a five-year jail term, a move which experts say has political ramifications.
Speculations are rife that Neeru will contest the Lohardaga by-election, the date of which is yet to be announced, with an AJSU ticket. The Lohardaga seat, which Bhagat won in the last assembly election, fell vacant after his conviction in a 1993 attempt to murder and extortion case.
Marriage rituals were performed at Jhakhra Khumbha, a place where followers of Sarna (a religion of tribes) tie the knot.
Neeru, who has no political connections, is likely to contest the bypoll to retain Bhagat’s votes in the constituency, said an AJSU insider.
“If she (Neeru) contests the bypoll, the chances of which are high, she will get sympathy votes and may even win,” said political expert Pankaj Prasun.
“Several incidents of spouses taking over the charge after leaders’ exit from politics have occurred in the political history of India,” he said.
Tainted Barkagaon MLA Yogendar Saw’s wife Nirmala Devi, a political greenhorn, had contested her husband’s seat in assembly polls last year with a Congress ticket and won despite the Modi wave.
The AJSU is reluctant to comment on the chances of Neeru contesting the by-election. “Let us keep politics away from the marriage as of now. You will get answers to your questions at the right time,” said AJSU spokesperson Deosharan Bhagat.
The AJSU could not find an eligible candidate for the Lohardaga constituency after the BJP decided not to field a candidate, said a senior BJP leader.
The AJSU is an ally of the BJP and both parties have 47 seats, excluding Lohardaga, in the 81-member Jharkhand assembly.
Congress state president Sukhdeo Bhagat had lost the Lohardaga seat to KK Bhagat by a margin of 500 votes last year.
Sukhdeo will be the greatest hurdle for Neeru if she contests the by-election, say political experts.
