Ranchi: Dr Sarfaraz Ahmad of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha has reached the Upper House of the Indian Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, unopposed. Alongside him, Pradeep Verma of the Bharatiya Janata Party was also elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Jharkhand.
Dr Ahmad has achieved a milestone as he becomes a member of the Rajya Sabha. The 71-year-old politician is likely the only leader in India who has been a member of all houses of representation in India– the Vidhan Sabha, Vidhan Parishad, Lok Sabha, and now the Rajya Sabha.
A seasoned politician once considered very close to Rajiv Gandhi, he has served as a member of the legislative assembly three times, one term each in the Vidhan Parishad and Lok Sabha.
In 1980, under the Indian National Congress’ symbol, he won the Gandey assembly seat for the first time in undivided Bihar. Four years later, he became a Member of Parliament from the Giridih Lok Sabha constituency. He was later appointed to the Bihar Vidhan Parishad.
He again won from the Gandey seat for the Bihar and Jharkhand assemblies – once on the Congress ticket and later on the JMM ticket in 2019.
Dr Ahmad, who started his political career with the Congress, left the party to join the RJD. Later, he returned to the grand old party. However, before the 2019 assembly polls in Jharkhand, he left the Congress again and joined the JMM, winning on its symbol.
On December 31, 2023, he resigned from the Jharkhand assembly. It is believed that he vacated the seat for Kalpana Soren, the wife of Hemant Soren, who will contest the assembly election, as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested former chief minister and JMM working president Hemant Soren.
