Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: In a bid to reignite the doused flames, Congress leader Shakeel Ahmad on Friday said that BJP spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi should apologise to expelled JD(U) leader Sabir Ali for calling him a "friend" of Indian Mujahideen chief Yasin Bhatkal.
Shakeel Ahmad`s statement came a day after Bihar`s ruling Janata Dal-United won both the seats in the Rajya Sabha from the state in a by-election, thanks to cross-voting by its rebel legislators. The Janata Dal-United candidates Pavan Verma and Ghulam Rasool Balyavi were elected despite the rebel legislators and with full backing of opposition Bharatiya Janata Party to the two Independent candidates - Sabir Ali and Anil Sharma.
On microblogging website Twitter, Ahmad said:
All BJP MLAs of Bihar voted en-block for Sabir Ali,termed as terrorist Bhatkal's friend by Mr Naqvi.Now Mr Ali deserves apology by Mr Naqvi.
— Shakeel Ahmad (@Ahmad_Shakeel) June 20, 2014
Balyavi got 123 votes and Verma 122, while Ali got 107 votes and Sharma 108. A total of 230 of the 232 sitting legislators in the 243-member house cast their votes.
According to JD-U leaders, 18 to 20 of the party`s rebel legislators voted for Ali and Sharma.
The by-polls were necessitated by the election of Lok Janshakti (LJP) chief Ram Vilas Paswan, BJP general secretary Rajiv Pratap Rudy and former RJD general secretary Ram Kripal Yadav to the Lok Sabha.
