After Gujarat, Bihar Congress wary of revolt

New Delhi: After the Congress faced a rebellion by lawmakers in Gujarat, trouble seems to be brewing in the party’s Bihar unit with growing resentment against state chief Ashok Chaudhary and a group of party MLAs reportedly warming up to JD(U) president and chief minister Nitish Kumar, sources said.

Insiders point to Mr Chaudhary’s alleged proximity to Mr Kumar after the end of the Grand Alliance and there is speculation that as many as nine MLAs out of the party’s 27 could leave the Congress.

The party may also send senior leaders to Patna for damage control. A senior leader said: “We need to act fast or we could have MLAs leaving the Congress and forming a new outfit, which will eventually help Nitish Kumar.”

Sensing trouble, the party had recently rushed senior leaders Jyotiraditya Scindia and J.P. Aggarwal to Bihar to assess the situation and quell a possible rebellion. Four MLAs kept away from a meeting called by the central leaders, sources said.

Mr Scindia downplayed the developments in the Bihar unit, saying that “all are united against the decision of Mr Kumar to break the grand alliance”.

Bihar Congress sources claimed several MLAs have openly criticised the functioning of the state unit chief and there was danger of the rumblings getting louder.

Since November 2015, when the grand alliance stormed to power in Bihar, there have been talks of replacing Mr Chaudhary as the state unit chief after he got a  Cabinet berth. However, his proximity to Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and general secretary incharge C.P. Joshi ensured that he continued on both posts, sources said.

The Congress is also planning to call all its MLAs to Delhi and attending to their grievances after the demise of the grand alliance, they said.

The Congress is also confused on whether to continue its alliance with the RJD or to disassociate itself from the party of Lalu Prasad Yadav. However, the party has asked the state unit to decide if it wants to participate in RJD’s rally on August 27.