The simmering tensions in the Bihar Congress since last year’s defeat in the Assembly elections appear to be bubbling over as a group of the party’s state leaders say that they plan to hold a protest outside the All India Congress Committee (AICC) office in New Delhi on September 8 to demand the removal of state Congress president Rajesh Ram and AICC’s Bihar in-charge Krishna Allavaru over alleged corruption.
Among these disgruntled leaders are party spokesperson Anand Madhav, former MLA Chhatrapati Yadav, and former Bihar Youth Congress chief Rajkumar Rajan, who are among the nine expelled from the party for six years on February 18. They have challenged their expulsion, saying the state unit cannot expel them without due approval from the AICC disciplinary committee. The leaders claimed they had been trying to meet Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi to present their side of the story, but had not been given an appointment.
“We are the ones who flagged corruption at party organisation level. We had met Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leaders K C Venugopal and Ashok Gehlot on November 3 last year in a hotel in Patna. They assured us that we would be granted an audience after the Assembly elections. But despite our repeated attempts, we were not given time either by Kharge or by Rahul Gandhi,” Anand Madhav told The Indian Express.
Madhav, who was chairman of the party’s research wing in Bihar, said: “We are demanding the withdrawal of notices given to 47 Congress leaders, including us. The state unit exceeded its power and expelled nine of us. According to the Congress constitution, they cannot do it.”
Madhav said being denied a ticket for the Assembly polls was one of the reasons for their unhappiness with Allavaru and Ram. “The main reason was how even organisational posts are being sold out. There has been a sustained attempt to make it Congress-mukt Bihar by some Congress leaders themselves,” he alleged.
Responding to the demands for his removal, Rajesh Ram told The Indian Express, “All these leaders talking about protesting in Delhi have been expelled from the party. Our mandate from our top leaders is to strengthen the party. Criticism from any quarter will further motivate us to do better and will make us stronger. The party has responded by expelling those making irresponsible statements.”
“They (the expelled leaders) had been asked by our leaders in Delhi to discuss their issues with Bihar Congress head, but they refused to do so,” said Bihar Congress spokesperson Asit Nath Tiwari.
Following the loss in the Assembly elections, the state unit’s disciplinary committee issued show-cause notices to 47 leaders, accusing them of engaging in anti-party activities, including public dissent against official lines, internal sabotage, and actively working against allies’ candidates during the campaign.
The leaders show-caused dismissed the allegations, accusing the state leadership of acting arbitrarily and conducting a partisan crackdown without any formal inquiry or approval from the high command.
