Patna, October 15 (IANS). In the Bihar Assembly elections, political turmoil has intensified due to the denial of ticket of Janata Dal United (JDU) MLA Gopal Mandal from Gopalpur. The party has expressed confidence in Bulu Mandal in his place.
Angered by being denied ticket, Gopal Mandal has now announced to contest the elections as an independent. While talking to IANS, he expressed his displeasure and made serious allegations against the top leadership of JDU.
Gopal Mandal said, “I don’t know how my ticket was canceled. Nitish Kumar had brought me to JDU and he had supported me. But, now Nitish Kumar has been hijacked by big leaders of the party. He is being misled. Now only upper caste people sit around him, not people from the most backward class.”
Gopal Mandal, famous for his outspokenness, said, “I am a bit of a braggart, I say things directly.”
He also made a statement regarding his safety and said, “I always carry a pistol or a rifle. If someone shoots me, will I remain silent or kiss?”
Expressing confidence, Gopal Mandal said that he will contest the elections as an independent candidate and is confident of victory. The ticket was in my pocket, but only Nitish Kumar can tell how it was cut. There is no competition with me, victory will be ours.
Mandal also revealed that he had also received an offer from Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), but he did not respond to it. He said, “I still have faith in Nitish Kumar, but something is going wrong in the party.”
He told that he will file nomination after seeing the auspicious time from Pandit.
–IANS
AKS/ABM
