Former Bihar minister Monazir Hassan, senior RJD leader’s daughter join JD(U), praise CM Nitish Kumar
Ashma Parveen, a gynaecologist and the daughter of RJD national vice-president Ilyas Hussain, has been a close friend of RJD chief Yadav’s eldest daughter and Rajya Sabha member Misa Bharti.
Published: 02nd July 2018 09:16 PM | Last Updated: 02nd July 2018 09:16 PM | A+A A-

Bihar CM and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar (File Photo | PTI)
PATNA: Former Bihar minister Monazir Hassan and senior RJD leader Ilyas Hussain’s daughter Dr Ashma Parveen on Monday joined the state’s ruling JD(U) and said they would work to strengthen the hands of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
For Hassan, 61, formerly a four-time MLA from Munger and JD(U) MP from Begusarai (2009-2014), it was homecoming. He had quit JD(U) on July 2, 2014 and joined BJP, singing paeans for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. At that time, his departure was a big jolt to Nitish Kumar as Hassan was one of JD(U)’s prominent Muslim faces.
“The kind of leadership practised by Nitish Kumar is the need of the hour. I returned to my home in order to be a part of the extraordinary campaign he is spearheading for sociopolitical change,” said Hassan as he took the primary membership of JD(U) in presence of the party’s state unit president Vashistha Narayan Singh. Over 20 supporters of Hassan also joined JD(U).
Hassan was expelled from BJP for six years in December 2015 for his statements that the saffron party considered derogatory. He had allegedly said during a debate on rising intolerance that BJP is not a secular party. Sources said Hassan had joined BJP expecting that the party would field him in the Assembly polls, but he was ignored. BJP had fielded two Muslim candidates in Bihar’s September-October 2015 Assembly polls, and both had lost.
Ashma Parveen, a gynaecologist and the daughter of RJD national vice-president Ilyas Hussain, has been a close friend of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s eldest daughter and Rajya Sabha member Misa Bharti. Parveen and Bharti were classmates at MGM Medical College in Jamshedpur and later at PMCH in Patna. They have been such close friends that Parveen’s clinic at Hajipur in named after Bharti.
“I have the permission of my father to pursue my political affiliations independently. I believe in the selfless service to the people practised by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. I had been longing to be a part of that great work,” said Parveen as she joined JD(U) in presence of Vashistha Narayan Singh.