Overview

• Saba Zafar said he had already filed nomination papers on the JD(U) symbol and was never asked to return it.
• Sabir Ali acknowledged the reversal and said he would campaign wherever the party assigns him.
• JD(U) had announced Ali as its Amour candidate a day earlier, replacing Zafar without offering a reason.
• Ali had been expelled from JD(U) in 2014 after praising Narendra Modi and later left the BJP following allegations of links to Yasin Bhatkal, as reported in earlier coverage.
• The Amour contest features JD(U)’s Zafar against AIMIM MLA Akhtarul Iman, with Ali recently re-inducted into JD(U) in Purnea in the presence of minister Leshi Singh.