Patna: Jan Suraaj on Saturday replaced its Tirhut Teachers’ constituency candidate, naming former Army personnel and academic Shyam Nandan Kumar Yadav for the upcoming Bihar legislative council election.The move came a day after Bhushan Jha, named the party’s candidate on Thursday, announced he would contest as an independent following differences over a Muzaffarpur meeting attended by party founder Prashant Kishor. Jha alleged he and teachers accompanying him were stopped from recording his remarks and pressured to speak only on lines suggested by the party.Jan Suraaj national spokesperson Kumar Saurabh gave a different account, saying Jha wanted to contest independently and had raised the issue of not being allowed to put forward his views. He also referred to an alleged remark by Jha about teachers, saying such comments were unacceptable to the party.State president Manoj Bharti announced Yadav’s candidature in Patna, saying party workers had suggested his name. Senior functionary Rambali Chandravanshi said the decision reflected sentiments in Tirhut.Yadav, who served in the army for 15 years, said three of his four brothers had served in the Indian Army and his younger brother Pramod Yadav was martyred in the Kargil War and posthumously awarded the Sena Medal.Jha said he decided to contest independently after consulting hundreds of teacher colleagues.
