'Three Congress leaders have sold party tickets for crores of rupees.'
After being denied a ticket to contest next month's Bihar assembly polls, Congress MLA Mohammmad Afaque Alam has alleged that he refused to pay money to secure the party nomination.
Alam, who has been elected thrice from the Kasba seat in Purnea district, accused some Congress leaders of asking for money for party tickets.
"I was denied a ticket because I refused to pay money demanded by those dealing with the distribution of tickets," Afaque Alam tells Rediff Senior Contributor M I Khan.
You have accused some Congress leaders of corruption.
The Congress has been campaigning against the BJP on vote chori, but the fact is that some Congress leaders have been doing ticket chori.
I was a denied ticket because I refused to pay those deciding the candidates for the Bihar polls.
I stand by what I said earlier about money for party tickets. I demanded that Rahul Gandhi probe into it.
When I got information regarding money for tickets, I repeatedly telephoned Bihar Congress President Rajesh Ram and Congress Legislature Party leader Shakeel Ahmad Khan, but they did not take my call.
After making several attempts I managed to speak to Khan on the phone, but he refused to discuss anything about tickets.
I spoke to Rajesh Ram on the telephone, requested him to intervene and ensure that I get a ticket. I am a sitting MLA and the party has decided not to deny tickets to sitting MLAs.
But Rajesh Ram expressed helplessness and hinted that some party leaders were engaged in something else.
You repeatedly alleged that money played the main role in ticket distribution in the Congress party.
Three Congress leaders have sold party tickets for crores of rupees.
Our senior party leader Tarique Anwar has raised the issue of how the ticket distribution process was unfair.
He highlighted a case of former MLA Gajendra Shahi who was denied a ticket from Barnigha despite the fact that he lost the last election by a mere 113 votes.
Tickets were given to others who were defeated by margins of 28,000 to 32,000 votes in the 2020 polls.
Will you approach the Congress high command about this?
It is not easy and possible. I have used local media to express my story that must have reached the party high command.
What is your plan in this election?
I will not sit silent and I will not concede defeat. I will contest the polls as an Independent candudate from Kasba. People will decide if I am a pro-people leader.
Could you clarify why you were denied a ticket?
Pappu Yadav (the Independent Lok Sabha MP from Purnea) and Shakeel Ahmad Khan are solely responsible for denying me a ticket.
The party has given the ticket to Mohammad Irfan Alam in my place, who is considered close to Pappu Yadav.
I fail to understand who Pappu Yadav is. Is he a member of the Congress party? Is he a Congress leader?
How come he was allowed to be involved in deciding Congress candidates?
When I was appointed a minister in 2022 in the then Nitish Kumar government after he joined hands with the Mahagathbandhan, he (Shakeel Ahmad Khan) was not happy. He never wanted to see Afaque Alam as a minister.
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