Patna: The RJD on Friday lent its support to CPI-M nominee Amit Sarkar, son of slain communist leader Ajit Sarkar, for the by-poll to Purnia Assembly seat on June 25, possibly indicating deteriorating ties with the Congress.
"We have decided to support Sarkar," Leader of the Opposition in Bihar Assembly Abdul Bari Siddiqui and state RJD president Ramchandra Purve said.
Siddiqui said the decision had been taken to avoid division of secular votes and ensure defeat of communal forces.
"We tried to contact LJP supremo Ramvilas Paswan seeking his view on the matter, but he was not available. I am confident that the LJP will support the RJD's stand," Siddiqui said.
In-charge of Congress affairs in Bihar, Gulchain Singh Charak had on Thursday announced that his party had decided to fight the by-poll on its own.
While replying to a question as to whether his party would seek the support of RJD-LJP combine for the by-election, Charak had said, "The secular parties should understand that the Congress is the lone alternative in the bypoll and should support its nominee."
The RJD-LJP combine has not put up its candidate for the seat and said it would support a candidate from a secular party.
The by-poll to Purnia Assembly constituency has been necessitated by the killing of ruling BJP MLA Raj Kishore Keshri allegedly by a woman at his residence in Purnia on January 4, 2011.
While the BJP has fielded Keshri's widow Kiran, the Congress has put up Ramcharitra Yadav as its candidate. Other candidates in the fray include CPI(M)'s Amit Sarkar and Islamuddin of CPI-ML.
Earlier, former state BJP president Radhamohan Singh, MP, had charged the RJD-LJP combine of entering into a tacit understanding with the Congress that forced the combine not to put up a candidate.
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