Left parties out of Mahagatbandhan in Bihar; Kanhaiya Kumar to contest on CPI's ticket
Patna: Left parties of Bihar Saturday slammed the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) for excluding them in the seat-sharing formula saying the decision was not in sync with the ground realities in the state.
The CPI (ML) Liberation, the major Left party in Bihar, said it would now contest in five seats and extend support to the CPI and the CPI (M) which have declared their nominees for two Lok Sabha constituencies.
The party has announced that it would be fielding former JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar from Begusarai. The NDA has fielded firebrand BJP leader and Union minister Giriraj Singh from the seat.
The decision was taken by the Left on Saturday, a day after Mr Kumar was left out of the opposition coalition in Bihar. He will be joint candidate of the Left parties from Begusarai.
New entrants to the Grand Alliance Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) and Mukesh Sahni's Vikasheel Insan Party (VIP) will field candidates on five and three seats respectively. Former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) has been given three seats.
"The Left had, on its own, decided to contest very few seats this time in order to prevent division of anti-BJP votes. The manner in which the seats have been allocated can be called anything but just," Kunal added.
The CPI(ML) has already announced candidature of Raju Yadav, from Ara. The NDA has fielded Union minister R K Singh, the sitting BJP MP, from the seat.
CPI(M) state secretary Awadhesh told PTI that the party politburo has objected to the manner in which the seat-sharing formula was announced, keeping the Left out of the formation.
"We have decided to field young member of our state secretariat Ajay Kumar from Ujiarpur. We will be supporting other Left parties in seats where they field their candidates," Awadhesh said.
The NDA has fielded state BJP state president and sitting MP Nityanand Rai from Ujiarpur.
Announcement of the seat-sharing formula by the Grand Alliance had evoked resentment from CPI secretary general Sudhakar Reddy on Friday.
"We had an understanding with Lalu Prasad Yadav, but he is in jail. So, I don't know how things have been conveyed to his son (Tejashwi Yadav). He had agreed for six seats including Begusarai and Madhubani," Reddy had said.
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Injured Phil Salt returns home for scans
New Delhi (PTI): Royal Challengers Bengaluru opener Phil Salt has returned to England for scans on a finger injury sustained last month.
The injury has kept Salt out of RCB's last three matches, with compatriot Jacob Bethell stepping in at the top of the order.
The 29-year-old is reported to have "damaged a finger on his left hand" while diving to save a boundary at deep backward square leg during RCB's defeat to Delhi Capitals at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on April 18.
"Salt, who is centrally contracted by the ECB, has since returned home at the request of England's management and has undergone scans on his finger," ESPNCricinfo reported.
According to the report, both RCB and Salt are hopeful of a speedy recovery and the opener can return to India later this month.
Salt had enjoyed a strong start to the season, amassing 202 runs in six innings at an impressive strike rate of 168.33.
RCB are currently second on the points table behind Punjab Kings. They take on Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Thursday next.
