Suspended Shakeel Ahmed to rejoin Congress

New Delhi: Former Union minister and senior Congress leader Shakeel Ahmed is all set to return to the Congress fold. The party had suspended him from the organisation for anti-party activities. Mr Ahmed was demanding a Lok Sabha ticket from his parliamentary constituency of Madhubani as the seat had gone to alliance partner RJD. He had filed his nomination as an independent. Justifying his demand, Mr Ahmed had said, “I have taken the decision in the interests of the party and in the interests of the Mahagathbandhan. The candidate fielded on behalf of the alliance simply does not have winning potential and it would be like giving a walk over to the BJP-led NDA.”

Before filing his nomination, he had resigned from all the party posts that he held. At that point of time, he was the general secretary of the party. Senior leaders of the Congress tried to impress upon Mr Ahmed to withdraw his candidature but he refused. The Congress suspended him from the party seeking an explanation.

After Mrs Sonia Gandhi took over as the Congress president, Mr Shakeel Ahmed met her on Friday. Sources say that the meeting lasted close to forty minutes, and the discussion was mainly about his plans to be back in the party. Speaking to this newspaper, Mr Ahmed confirmed his meeting with the Congress president. Insiders say that presently, the Congress finds itself rudderless in Bihar. Its alliance partner, the RJD, is also not in mid-season form as the family quarrels are coming out in the open. The Assembly elections in the state are slated for October next year.