The minority community in Dhanbad had demanded representation in Parliament, but the Congress, which has got the Lok Sabha seat under the Grand Alliance arrangement, has fielded Kirti Azad. Reacting to this development, Samajwadi Party has decided to field a minority community candidate from Dhanbad.

Former Samajwadi Party state president and in-charge of the Dhanbad Lok Sabha seat Meraj Khan told the media on Friday that SP had not been made a part of the opposition alliance in Jharkhand and GA had not fielded a single Muslim candidate from any of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand, and so SP would file its own Muslim candidate from here. “We have sent a few names to the party high command through the district committee, and very soon, a name would be announced for the Dhanbad Lok Sabha seat,” said Khan.

He alleged that by not fielding any Muslim Lok Sabha candidate in the state, the opposition alliance partners had ignored a very big section of the population and, therefore, the SP had demanded that the high command choose a Muslim candidate from Dhanbad.

Khan also termed Congress candidate Kirti Azad “a turncoat” as well as “an outsider”.

“He comes from a communal background, and in just a few days, one cannot become secular,” said Khan, referring to the fact that Azad recently joined the Congress after he was suspended by the BJP.

SP district president Mansaf Khan said, “We hope that Meraj would be the party candidate in Dhanbad, as he is the best choice among those whose names have been sent to the high command.”

First Published: Apr 13, 2019 10:34 IST