Chaudhary Mehboob Kaisar quits Cong to join LJP, nominated from Khagaria

PATNA: Congress received a setback in Bihar today with its former state chief and AICC member Chaudhary Mehboob Kaisar quitting the party to join Lokjanshakti Party and was promptly nominated as the LJP candidate from Khagaria seat.

Kaisar, three time MLA from Simri Bakhtiayarpur in Khagaria district who was given the LJP membership by Ramvilas Paswan at the party headquarters today, said the NDA was marching towards capturing power at the Centre.

Asked if he considered BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi as secular, Kaisar said, "Though he cannot be condoned for the 2002 Gujarat riots, but today development is the key word...we shall move forward."

"Thousands of riots have taken place even under Congress rule and other parties...Pakistan which is an Islamic country also witnesses intra-faith strife," Kaisar, flanked by Ramvilas Paswan and his son Chirag Paswan, said.

He also referred to the apex court order giving a clean chit to Narendra Modi in connection with the Gujarat riots.

Kaisar and Ramvilas Paswan said secularism and communalism debate was nothing but a "chunavi hathkanda" (poll ploy) and asserted development and fighting the pressing problems facing the country like unemployment, price rise and security were the key words presently.

In the seat sharing between Congress and RJD, Khagaria seat has gone to the kitty of Lalu Prasad's party, which came as a disappointment to Kaisar.

RJD has already nominated Krishna Yadav, wife of local strongman Ranbir Yadav, as its candidate from Khagaria.

In the seat-sharing tie-up between BJP and LJP, the Khagaria seat was given to LJP.