PK fields Army ex-vice chief Krishna Singh for Bihar bypoll

PATNA: Prashant Kishor 's Jan Suraaj Party Wednesday named former vice chief of army staff, Lieutenant General Krishna Singh , as its candidate for bypoll to Tarari assembly seat in Bihar.

The announcement came at a presser addressed by Prashant Kishor, and party's working president Manoj Bharti, a retired diplomat-turned-politician.

Kishor disclosed that the fledgling party would name its candidates for three other seats, where bypolls are due next month, within a few days, even as he asserted that the candidature of Lt Gen Sinha, "the only vice chief of army staff from Bihar besides late S K Sinha", was a matter of pride for Tarari which had become "synonymous with illegal sand-mining and other mafia".

Notably, bypoll has been necessitated for the seat following the election to LS of Sudama Prasad, a CPI(ML) neta whose party is a part of the INDIA bloc.

Lt Gen Singh said he was "not happy" with the Agniveer scheme which, incidentally, had met with stiff opposition when it was rolled out a couple of years ago.