Patna: Anger seems to be brewing within the Congress party against the central leadership after the Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar collapsed in July. Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) president Ashok Chaudhary on Thursday blamed some of the senior AICC leaders of fuelling a crisis within the Bihar unit of the party by conspiring to remove him from the post.
“I am aware that some AICC leaders are floating a theory that I am trying to break the party in Bihar. I have given 25 years to this party and after so many years of dedication my own party leaders are conspiring against me”, Bihar Congress party president Ashok Chaudhary told reporters in Patna on Thursday.
His statement comes on the day when Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi met party legislators in New Delhi. Mr Chaudhary skipped the meeting at the last minute citing personal reasons. Mr Chaudhary, insiders claimed had developed closeness with chief minister Nitish Kumar during his tenure as an education minister in the Mahagathband-han government.
RJD chief Lalu Yadav had earlier blamed Mr Nitish Kumar for trying to engineer a split in Bihar Congress to create his own majority. Mr Kumar had however denied the allegation. Mr Rahul Gandhi had called legislators to New Delhi in a damage control exercise to prevent a split in the party. According to sources a sizeable number of 27 Congress legislators have been trying to desert the party and join Mr Nitish Kumar’s JD (U).
According to an insider, as many as 14 legislators have already decided to float a group in order to break the party. But according to observers here, as per the anti-defection law, a total of 18 legislators are required to break the party.
However, there are also reports that a sizeable number of Congress legislators who want to break the party are not in favor of joining the JD (U) as most of them had defeated BJP candidates during the assembly elections in 2015. Sources said, “Most of the legislators want to join the BJP instead of joining the JD (U)”.
