Slain leader's wife raises ante against mother of the killer

Bhuvaneshwar Prasad / TNN / Apr 12, 2009, 03:51 IST

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while she will go abegging for the life of her son to the voters by spreading her aanchal, she will ask for severest punishment for the assassin of her husband", says Madhavi Sarkar, the widow of slain CPM MLA Ajit Sarkar.

Slain leader's wife raises ante against mother of the killer

PURNIA: "Woh anchal phailake voters se apne bete ka jeevan daan mangegi aur main apne pati ke kaatil ko uske anjam tak le jane ki maang karoongi (while she will go abegging for the life of her son to the voters by spreading her aanchal, I will ask for severest punishment for the assassin of my husband)", says Madhavi Sarkar, the widow of slain CPM MLA Ajit Sarkar, about Independent candidate Shantipriya, mother of controversial Madhepura MP Pappu Yadav who was denied permission by the court to fight the polls.
Pappu is a convict in Ajit Sarkar murder case. He is presently out on bail and was expelled from RJD recently.
Madhavi, who is contesting as a CPI(ML) candidate from Purnia parliamentary seat: "I am fighting for fulfilling the dreams of my husband to help the downtrodden and the Dalits. I also want to make the area free from criminals and feudal elements."
She, however, considers Shantipriya a small fry and says her main adversary in the poll fray is BJP's Uday Singh alias Pappu Singh.

Asked what will be thrust of her poll campaign, she says there is no dearth of issues. Rising prices, unemployment and plight of farmers are the core points. Besides, she will fight for land reforms in the area.
Like a typical Leftists, she echoed anti-America and pro-poor sentiments.
Sarkar jumped into the poll arena after the gruesome murder of her husband and won the 1998 by-poll. But, internal family feud eclipsed her political career for a while when she lost 2000 state assembly poll due to the candidature of her husband's brother. She then joined CPI (ML) and unsuccessfully fought 2004 LS poll. She had, however, been politically active ever since her marriage and often shouldered the campaign burden and drew poll strategy for her husband.

She reared up her three children, two daughters and one son after the killing of her husband. The eldest daughter is a doctor and the second one is a housewife. Her only son is now settled in Australia.
Taking a leaf from Tagore's famous line "ekla chalo re...", the widow continues to plough a lonely furrow. "I will continue to wage war for the poor and the downtrodden. The CPI (ML) has strong support in Rupauli, Barharakotty, Dhamdaha and Kadwa blocks," she claims.
She assails almost all political parties for their double-talk. "They cry hoarse for womens representation and emancipation, but fight shy in nominating women for the polls," she says, adding she is proud the CPI (ML) has fielded three women candidates in the state in the Lok Sabha polls this time.

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