By IANS,
Patna : The wife of slain Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) legislator Ajit Sarkar, fighting elections from Purnia in Bihar, has urged the Election Commission to provide her adequate security against her husband’s murderer and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Pappu Yadav.
Madhavi Sarkar, contesting as a Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist (CPI-ML) candidate, has told the poll panel that she feels threatened by Pappu Yadav.
“I have told the Election Commission that a free Pappu Yadav is a serious threat to my life. Anything can happen to me. Even the local police are helpless,” Madhavi told IANS on telephone.
Madhavi’s husband, who was locked in a feud with Pappu Yadav over farm labourers, was shot dead with his driver Harendra Sharma and party worker Ashfaqur Rehman in Purnea, about 350 km from here, on June 14, 1998.
Pappu Yadav, the sitting MP from Madhepura, was held guilty of Sarkar’s murder and sentenced to life imprisonment by a lower court last year. But the Patna High Court granted him bail two months ago.
He is now busy campaigning in the constituency for his mother Shanti Priya Devi, an independent candidate who enjoys Congress support.
“Pappu Yadav is posing a serious threat to peace in Purnea. Free, fair and peaceful polling is not possible unless he is put behind bars,” said Madhavi.
Earlier this month, the Patna High Court rejected Pappu Yadav’s plea to suspend his conviction in the murder case so that he could contest the Lok Sabha election.
After he was barred from contesting, he revolted against the Lalu Prasad-Ram Vilas Paswan alliance and said he would campaign for the Congress.
His wife Ranjita Ranjan, a Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) MP, has also defected to the Congress to contest from Supaul constituency.