By IANS,
Patna : Some of Bihar’s infamous politicians, convicted of various crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment, are likely to field their relatives – including wives and parents – in the upcoming general elections as they are not eligible to contest themselves.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MPs Rajesh Ranjan Yadav alias Pappu Yadav and Mohammad Shahabuddin, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) MP Suraj Singh alias Suraj Bhan Singh and former Janata Dal-United (JD-U) MP Anand Mohan, who are appealing their convictions, are planning to have a close relative contest from the constituencies they represent, according to party sources.
The four are among the dozen politicians including MPs and legislators convicted and sentenced by fast track courts in the state after 2005 and thus ineligible to contest elections. According to Section 8 (3) of the Representation of the People Act of 1951, any person convicted for a crime and sentenced to more than a two-year-long jail term cannot fight elections till six years after the completion of his sentence.
Shahabuddin’s wife Heena Sahab is likely to replace him in the Siwan parliamentary seat this time as RJD candidate. Currently lodged in Siwan jail, Shahabuddin was convicted in seven criminal cases, with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Chandradeo Prasad Yadav, the father of Madehpura MP Pappu Yadav – convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Ajit Sarkar – is likely to contest from the seat as the RJD candidate. Pappu Yadav’s wife, Ranjeeta Ranjan is already an MP, but from the LJP.
Veena Devi, the wife of Balia MP Suraj Bhan Singh who was sentenced to life last year for murder of a farmer in 1992 but is presently out on bail, is likely to contest for the Nawada parliamentary seat as the LJP candidate as Balia has ceased to exist following delimitation.
Lovely Anand, the wife of Anand Mohan and former MP, is also likely to contest the parliamentary poll as a Congress candidate. Her husband was convicted and awarded death penalty by a trial court for inciting a mob that lynched to death Gopalganj District Magistrate G. Krishnaiyah in 1994, while she was sentenced to life imprisonment.
However, the Patna High Court had December 2008 commuted Anand Mohan’s sentence to life imprisonment and acquitted her. Anand Mohan is appealing his conviction in the Supreme court.