ELECTIONS

In Delhi, RJD may put up eunuch against Khurana

By Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi
November 06, 2003 01:45 IST

The Rashtriya Janata Dal is poised to pitchfork a eunuch from the Motinagar assembly segment against Bharatiya Janata Party's chief ministerial aspirant Madan Lal Khurana for the forthcoming elections in Delhi.

RJD Delhi unit chief Raj Singh Mann told rediff.com that Asha Didi had expressed a desire to contest the poll on the RJD ticket. She is confident of garnering support from not just the eunuch community but also others.

Party chief Laloo Prasad Yadav would be in Delhi to decide the final list of candidates.

Sources told rediff.com that Asha Didi's chances of getting a ticket were good as it offered the party an opportunity to teach the BJP a lesson for consistently bad-mouthing the RJD.

The RJD and BJP are constantly at loggerheads in Bihar and Jharkhand, apart from the Centre. Neither party has spared any opportunity to ridicule the other.

Khurana, RJD sources claimed, had been rattled by the possibility of the eunuch's candidature. He had reportedly told his aides that while political rivalry is in order, senior leaders should not stoop to these levels.

The RJD is also contemplating putting up a dhobi (launderer) against Congress Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in the Gol Market assembly segment. A party survey had reportedly revealed that there were approximately 14,000 dhobis in the area and this could make a difference to the final result.

An RJD MP from Bihar told rediff.com that the proposal came up after the Congress rejected the RJD's request to enter into a seat sharing arrangement. The Congress is an alliance partner of the RJD in Bihar.

The RJD intends to put up candidates in about 20 seats to pressurise the Congress to enter into an alliance.

In Madhya Pradesh, a eunuch, independent candidate Shabnam Mausi, had been elected from the Shohagpur in the 2000 assembly polls.
Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi
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