Jamshedpur: The state Congress has suspended Shaista Parveen alias Jeba Khan, state unit secretary, from the party for turning rebellious by contesting the Mango Municipal Corporation (MMC) mayoral election.Though the civic polls aren’t on party lines, Congress is backing Sudha Gupta, wife of former minister and ex MLA Banna Gupta, for the post.Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary and East Singhbhum district in-charge Baljeet Singh Bedi said that Shaista has been suspended for six years for indiscipline. “Our state president Keshav Mahato Kamlesh has approved her suspension”, Bedi said.She was earlier show-caused for not withdrawing from the fray despite repeated appeals, Bedi added.Justifying her decision to contest, Shaista said that she has been in the party for years, worked sincerely for the organisation for over a decade and has been the voice of the people. She claimed that the voters in Mango have faith in her and they will bless her with the votes and help her win the election.Party insiders have said that top leaders should have taken Sahista into confidence and persuaded her to withdraw from the race instead of taking extreme step in the run up to the polls. “With her contesting the poll, the risk of losing some votes is there for the party,” said a party leader of the Mango.
