Who is Faiyaz Ahmad?

As Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is slated for a floor test to prove his majority in the state Legislative Assembly on August 24, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided the residence of several Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leaders in connection with an alleged land-for-job scam. Faiyaz Ahmad was one of the RJD politicians whose house was raided by the federal agency, who is also a Rajya Sabha MP from the party.

The CBI raided the residences of MLCs Sunil Singh and Subodh Roy, apart from MPs Faiyaz Ahmad and Ashfaq Karim. Following the raids that took place in Patna, Madhubani and Darbhanga, RJD’s Biscomaun Patna chairman Sunil Singh said that the raids were intentional ahead of the floor test on August 24.

Also Read: Congress slams Adani’s NDTV hostile takeover

Who is Faiyaz Ahmad?

Faiyaz Ahmad is an RJD politician in the Indian state of Bihar and a Member of the Parliament (MP) in the Rajya Sabha from the state since May 2022. He has also held office in the Bihar Legislative Assembly twice in his political career, after being elected from Bisfi in the Madhubani district in 2010 and 2015. 

Apart from politics, Ahmad is known widely as an educationist and the founder of the Madhubani Medical College and Hospital in Pandaul, Keshopur. He was announced as a candidate for the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in the Rajya Sabha Elections on May 26, 2022, for the June elections along with RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s daughter Misa Bharti, which he won.

Also Read: JDU president proposes Nitish Kumar as the opposition’s prime ministerial face

Faiyaz Ahmad was defeated by BJP candidate Haribhushan Thakur in the 2020 Bihar elections. He got 76333 votes (42.7%) against the BJP candidate, who received 86574 votes (48.43%).

However, Ahmad won from the Bisfi constituency two consecutive times in 2010 and 2015. In 2015, he defeated Manoj Kumar Yadav of Rashtriya Lok Samta Party to be elected. Ahmad received 70975 votes in 2015, almost 16000 fewer votes compared to his defeat in the same constituency in 2020. Meanwhile, his competitor, Manoj Kumar Yadav got only 35650 votes, which was 35325 votes less than Ahmad.