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Facing embarrassment over party candidate from Kisanganj deciding to pull out from contest, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today suspected "foul play" behind it while JD(U) said Akhtarul Iman has no moral right to stay in the party.
"Tyag nahi, daal mein kuch kaala lagta hai, (It is no sacrifice but some foul play seems to be behind this)," Kumar said while addressing a rally in Purnea.
Iman had yesterday claimed high moral ground saying he had decided to withdraw from the contest at Kisanganj to stop split of secular votes.
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JD(U) president Sharad Yadav, who had gone to campaign for Iman at Terhagach yesterday and was left red faced after coming to know about the candidate's pull out, today said Akhtarul Iman appears to have sold his "Imaan" (integrity) by doing so without consulting the party.
JD(U) state president Basistha Narayan Singh, who had given the party membership a month ago to Iman, came down heavily on him today and said after such an "unethical" act, he had no moral right to stay in the party.
"By doing this, he himself has gone out of the party... He has no moral right to stay in JD(U)," Singh told reporters.
Asked who could be behind Iman's move, he charged both Congress and BJP were masters in such activities.
Iman had recently crossed over to JD(U) from RJD after resigning as its MLA from Kochadhaman in Kisanganj district. He was among the 13 RJD MLAs to rebel against the party and was rewarded by Kumar with a Lok Sabha ticket from Kisanganj.
The withdrawal at this hour left JD(U) with no scope to put up a replacement from Kisanganj seat where voting is scheduled on April 24.
The constituency will now witness a direct contest between Asrarul Haque (Congress) and D K Jaiswal (BJP).
