Sindri: Siddharth Gautam, the younger brother of jailed Jharia BJP MLA Sanjiv Singh, created a flutter in the political circles here when he announced that he will contest the coming parliamentary elections from the Dhanbad seat. Gautam, the joint general secretary of Janta Mazdoor Sangh (JMS), a trade union run by his family, has, however, not indicated the party from which he will contest for the seat. While many see Gautam’s statement as just an attempt to revive the dwindling support base of his family, others take him as a threat to the political fortunes of the ruling BJP and its sitting MP P N Singh.Gautam’s family had a strong clout in the Jharia coalfield region, which included the Dhanbad area. His father, Suryadeo Singh, had been an MLA from the Jharia seat since 1977 till his death in 1991. After Suryadeo’s death, Abo Devi of RJD won the bye-election and represented the seat till 2000. Gautam’s mother Kunti Singh, was elected from the seat in 2005 and in 2009. In 2014, Gautam’s elder brother Sanjiv Singh was elected from the seat despite a tough contest from his cousin Neeraj Singh , who fought on a Congress ticket. Neeraj was later elected as the deputy mayor of Dhanbad Municipal Council. Later, Neeraj was shot dead in broad daylight in March 2017. Sanjiv Singh is languishing in jail after he was implicated in Neeraj’s murder. He is still facing trial in the case.BJP insiders said Gautam seemed unhappy with BJP over the party’s support to his family in the Neeraj case. Gautam, however, denied any ill will towards BJP and told TOI over the phone that his elder brother is still representing BJP. He said, “JMS is a trade union of workers of different ideologies and I am working for their well-being. It is the will of the workers that I contest the parliamentary elections,” he said, adding that he will hold a political rally in Dhanbad on February 24.District BJP president Chandrashekhar Singh said there was no threat to BJP in Dhanbad. He said, “We are dedicated to the party and will work for the victory of the candidate selected by the party.”

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