JDU senior leader from Bihar Narendra Singh will campaign for Independent candidate Saryu Roy who is fighting chief minister Raghubar Das in Jamshedpur East Assembly constituency.
“It is unfortunate that an honest leader like Saryu Roy, who is known for crusade against corruption, was denied a ticket for raising corrupt practices done by chief minister Raghubar Das,” said Singh. “It is surprising that the BJP has given tickets to scam-accused leaders like Bhanu Pratap Shahi and leaders with criminal antecedents like Dhullu Mahato. All such things have tarnished the image of BJP and despite being in alliance with BJP in Bihar, I have decided to campaign for my friend from the JP movement days, Saryu Roy, till December 5 and highlight the gunda gardi (thuggish behaviour) and corruption of Raghubar Das.”
A source in the Roy camp said Singh “would be used strategically in Bihari-dominated areas of Jamshedpur East, especially among the forward castes”.
Singh said Nitish refusing to campaign in Jharkhand might be due to the BJP.
“Nitishji has said that he would not campaign anywhere in Jharkhand initially after supporting Saryu Royji. It seems he was pressured by senior BJP leaders with whom we have an alliance government in Bihar,” Singh said.
He predicted a bleak future for the BJP in the Jharkhand Assembly polls.
Saryu water salvo
Saryu Roy on Monday alleged that in 2005, the then state urban development minister and current chief minister Raghubar Das had not given a no-objection certificate to the World Bank proposal for a state-of-the-art drinking water supply system to urban slums like Birsanagar, Bagunhatu and Baridih.
Later, the state government under Raghubar Das started the Moharda drinking water scheme in which over Rs 100 crore has already been spent but it is yet to be completed fully.
“Still there are complaints of dirty water being supplied through the Moharda drinking water scheme. The chief minister is responsible for the people of these urban slums facing problem of dirty and irregular water supply,” Roy alleged.
