BJP leader Putul Kumari, mother of Commonwealth Games gold-winning shooter Shreyashi Singh, has decided to contest as an Independent candidate from Bihar’s Banka, where the NDA nominee is the JDU’s Giridhari Yadav.

“I am contesting the seat on the demand of BJP workers. I will be seeking voters’ support to strengthen the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Putul said on Sunday.

She had won the seat in the 2010 bypoll as an Independent after the death of her husband Digvijay Singh, who had won as an Independent candidate in 2009 after the JDU denied him a ticket. She had lost from Banka on a BJP ticket in 2014 to the RJD’s Jayaprakash Narayan Yadav.

Bihar BJP vice-president Devesh Kumar called Putul’s decision “unfortunate”.