Maharajganj: Congress legislator backs brother fighting on SP ticket

“Congressmen should have a generous heart. After all he is my brother,” he said.

Congress won the Maharajganj parliamentary seat in 2009 and has again fielded sitting MP Harshvardhan Singh from there.

Kaushal claimed Harshvardhan Singh is a weak candidate. “The options before Congress are limited. They will let BJP win by cutting some votes. So, it is better that my brother wins,” he added.

SP has appreciated Kaushal’s move. “If anyone is supporting us and asking for vote, why should we stop him,” party’s state spokesperson Shivpal Singh Yadav said.

Akhilesh had won the seat as SP candidate in 1999 and is a two-term former MLA. Kaushal is, however, first-term MLA and won on Congress ticket in 2012. “I had defeated Amanmani Tripathi, the son of Amarmani Tripathi who is lodged in jail, in the Assembly polls. Harshvardhan was then campaigning against me. Many Congress workers were supporting Amanmani. I did not object to his adverse campaign and now I have paid back in same coin,” he said.

Congress, too, understands that Kaushal cannot be dissuaded.

“Kaushal is opposing Harshvardhan. I have informed the state headquarters and even mailed to Rahul Gandhi’s office. But I don’t think any action will be taken against him,” Tribhuvan Mishra, district Congress committee president  of Maharajganj, said.