Ticket sale row rocks Bihar parties ahead of polls

Denial of tickets has triggered outrage across Bihar, with leaders and workers from the NDA, Mahagathbandhan, and Jan Suraaj Party accusing their parties of “selling tickets” for lakhs and crores.

- SHIKHA SALARIA

Some have taken to social media to vent their anger, while others have quit politics altogether.

Among them is LJP-RV leader Abhay Singh, who contested the 2020 polls from Morwa and is known to be close to Chirag Paswan. Breaking down over what he called a corrupt process, Singh said, “Now, I cannot struggle for 30 years and then fight elections. I want to free myself from this struggle. I am pained by this ticket distribution system. Workers like you will face the same fate. Nobody will listen to you. Everyone will give you lollipop, rasgulla, chicken and wine for 15 days during elections—and once the polls end, they'll again demand 20 or 30 per cent commission. Everyone's waiting to profit. Sahu ji wants to win once more just to raise his cut from 30 to 35 per cent. But Morwa will remain the same.” The Morwa seat, originally allotted to the LJP-RV, went to the JD(U) under the NDA’ seat-sharing pact.