Shakeel Ahmad to contest as independent candidate from Madhubani
New Delhi, Apr 15 :: After being denied a ticket from his traditional constituency of Madhubani in Bihar due to the seat going to Vikas Sheel Insan party (VIP) under the grand allaince seat sharing formula, senior Congress leader Shakeel Ahmad on Monday resigned from the post of party spokesperson to contest as an independent candidate from the parliamentary seat in Bihar.
On Tuesday, Mr Ahmad will file his nomination paper from Madhubani.
Informing about his recent decision, two-time Member of Parliament said in a tweet, "As I have decided to file my nomination papers tomorrow from Madhubani Parliamentary Constituency in Bihar, I’m resigning from the post of Senior Spokesperson of AICC. I’m sending my resignation to Congress President Shri @RahulGandhi."
Under the grand alliance seat sharing formula, the Madhubani seat went to the barely six-month old caste based political outfit Vikas Sheel Insan Party (VIP) headed by Bollywood set designer Mukesh Sahni, who is popularly known as "Son of Mallah" across the state.
Mr Ahmad was first elected as MLA in 1985 and thereafter in 1990 and 2000 in Bihar assembly.
He was elected to Lok Sabha in 1998 and again in 2004. He also served as general secretary of the Indian National Congress Party.
Mr Ahmad had also served as Cabinet Minister in the Ministry of Health in Bihar Government led by Rabri Devi.
He was Minister of State in the Ministry of Communication & IT and Ministry of Home Affairs in the UPA 1 t Government , headed by Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister and formed in 2004.
In March 2011, he was appointed by Congress President Sonia Gandhi as Party-In-Charge for the states of Jharkhand and West Bengal.
In June 2013, he was promoted as a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) and was put in charge of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and the Union Territory of Chandigarh, as the National General Secretary.
The seat will go in polling on May 6. Congress is having alliance with RJD, former NDA ally RLSP, Jitan Ram Manjhi's HAM and VIP.
Out of 40, the party is contesting on nine seats in Bihar. Agency