This story is from April 13, 2019

Tariq Anwar eyes Katihar seat for sixth time in triangular fight

Tariq Anwar eyes Katihar seat for sixth time in triangular fight
Tariq Anwar
PATNA: The resignation of Katihar district Congress Seva Dal chief Shahid Hindustani on Thursday has caused much embarrassment to sitting MP Tariq Anwar, who is seeking re-election on the Congress ticket against former MLA Dulal Chand Goswami of JD(U) and NCP candidate Muhammad Shakur, also a former MLA. The NCP candidate is set to make it a triangular contest in Katihar, which will vote in the second phase on April 18.
In 2014, Tariq as the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate had defeated Nikhil Kumar Choudhary of BJP by a margin of 1.14 lakh votes to win the Katihar seat.

Soon after his resignation, Shahid announced his support to the NCP candidate. “The NCP, which has its base in Katihar, has fielded its own candidate after Tariq quit the party and joined Congress in September last year. The NCP workers are not happy with the sitting MP’s decision and they have decided to work in favour of the party’s official nominee,” said Shahid, who joined NCP in the presence of its national secretary K K Sharma.
Goswami, who is contesting the Lok Sabha election for the first time, must have heaved a sigh of relief after Ashok Kumar Jaiswal of BJP finally withdrew his candidature. Katihar seat has been given to JD(U) under the seat-sharing arrangements with other NDA allies BJP and LJP. “It came as a great relief for the NDA partners in general and Goswami in particular,” said a senior BJP leader.
Katihar, which shares its border with West Bengal, was earlier considered to be a bastion of the Congress. Locals recalled that the constituency elected eight Congress candidates to the Lok Sabha while BJP won this seat thrice. Former Congress president late Sitaram Kesri had won from this constituency in 1967.
“I am emotionally attached with the people of this constituency. I have been contesting election from this seat since 1977. My relation with the people of the area is personal. The shifting of loyalty (from NCP to Congress) will not affect my poll prospects,” said Tariq while returning from his election campaign on Friday.

Tariq said he had won the seat five times. “Even in 2014, when there was a Modi-wave, the people of Katihar reposed faith in me. I can never forget the love and blessings they have showered on me,” he said.
The former Union minister, once considered to be close to NCP chief Sharad Pawar, said he was doing his job and the people will take a final call. “Apart from development, issues of national importance are dominating the scene here,” he added.
While he is banking on MY (Muslim-Yadav) combination, Goswami is relying on the development works carried out in the constituency during the NDA rule in the state. “We are trying to woo the electorate on development issues and nothing else. CM Nitish Kumar campaigned for me in the constituency,” he said.
Though Tariq this time is contesting as a nominee of RJD-led Grand Alliance in Bihar, he had to face Lalu Prasad’s wrath on earlier occasions. He was defeated by Yunus Saleem of the then Janata Dal and a former governor of Bihar in 1991 general election. Yunus, a native of Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, had served as governor of Bihar in 1990. Yuv Raj was elected in 1977 and 1989 as a Janata Dal candidate.
Even in 1996, Jammu and Kashmir leader Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had unsuccessfully contested from this seat. A local political activist, Ravindra Sah, said Tariq was elected as MP from Katihar in 1980, 1984, 1996, 1998 and 2014. Nikhil Kumar Choudhary of BJP had won in 1999, 2004 and 2009 elections.
Tariq had contested elections as Congress nominee in 1980 and 1984. That time, he enjoyed the blessings of Sitaram Kesri, who was then an influential Congress leader. Tariq was also elected to the Rajya Sabha twice.
Voters belonging to minority community are in sizeable numbers in Katihar. Unofficial records showed Muslims constituted 40%, followed by Yadavs (11%), OBCs and EBCs (35%), upper castes (5%) and others (5%). “The EBCs and the upper castes will favour the NDA candidate,” claimed Ramesh Kumar, a confidante of Goswami.
A total of 16.45 lakh voters will decide the fate of nine candidates in the fray from Katihar, which has Kadwa, Balrampur, Pranpur, Manihari, Barari and Katihar assembly segments.
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