Ex-aide of former CM to take on council chairman

GAYA: The presence of Sharim Ali, a former aide of Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) chief and former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi as an independent candidate for the legislative council election from Gaya Graduates’ seat has made the contest more interesting. Earlier, Ali had given RJD strongman and Belaganj MLA Surindra Yadav a run for his money in the 2015 assembly election.For the record, HAM (S) officially supports BJP candidate and legislative council chairman Awadhesh Narain Singh.
In a multi-cornered contest for the prestigious seat, the council chairman is being challenged by RJD candidate Punit Kumar Singh, formidable independent Awadhesh Kumar Singh and Sharim Ali.
HAM (S) spokesperson Danish Rizwan said Ali was expelled from the party a few months back and he has no locus standi in the party. Sharim was appointed as the administrator of the Sunni Wakf Board by Manjhi during his tenure as CM.
Interestingly, the Gaya unit of CPI has extended its support to Ali, who, till sometime back was one of the most prominent Muslim faces of the NDA in Magadh region. Though political analysts do not rate Ali very high, his presence, according to activist Shri Bhagwan Bhaskar, has made local equations somewhat complex. Ali has an excellent personal rapport with Jahanabad MP Arun Kumar, said Bhaskar.
Ali’s presence has caused concern in the RJD camp as notwithstanding his NDA past and personal rapport with some functionaries of the non-RJD parties, the independent candidate is heavily banking on the 15,000 plus minority votes of the constituency, the segment RJD considers to be its pocket borough.
Unlike others, BJP candidate Awadhesh Narain Singh and independent candidate Awadhesh Kumar Singh started preparation much earlier and got a fairly large number of supporters registered as voters. Awadhesh is the only formidable candidate from his caste (Bhumihar) in the fray. In the early 1990s, Awadhesh’s caste man and present Jehanabad MP Arun Kumar won the seat as an independent candidate.