Lok Janshakti Party MLA Shoaib Iqbal joins JD(U)

Ahead of the Delhi assembly polls, Matia Mahal MLA Shoaib Iqbal today joined JD(U), saying its leader Nitish Kumar was the best for secular people fed up with the "corrupt" rule of Congress and "communalism" of BJP.
Iqbal, who quit Lok Janshakti Party to join JD(U), has been an MLA since 1993 and is said to have strong influence over Muslim votes in a few constituencies.
He joined the party along with his councillor son Aale Mohammad and other supporters in presence of Kumar and JD(U) president Sharad Yadav.
Terming it a "home-coming", Iqbal said he was always a socialist and had been with erstwhile Janata Dal and its other constituents in the past.

"Janata Dal had four MLAs in Delhi once. There is a growing yearning among people for a third alternative and we will be able to fill the vacuum, more so as Nitishji is looked up as the best leader to take on that person leading the communal brigade," Iqbal said in an apparent reference to BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
Yadav said JD(U)'s tie-up with BJP was a hindrance for Iqbal in joining the party.