Rahul Gandhi, Kharge hold talks with Bihar Congress MLAs amid reports of rift

Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, and Congress National General Secretary K C Venugopal held a meeting with all six newly-elected Congress MLAs from Bihar in New Delhi on Friday.

All Congress MPs from Bihar, members of the Bihar Legislative Council, and senior leaders of the Bihar Congress were also present at the meeting.

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According to sources, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi also held one-on-one meetings with the six Congress MLAs — Abidur Rahman from Araria, Manoj Vishwas from Forbesganj, Kamrul Hoda from Kishanganj, Surendra Prasad Kushwaha from Manihari, and Abhishek Ranjan from Chanpatia.

The meeting was considered significant in view of reports of a rift between the Bihar Congress leadership and the newly-elected MLAs, which had fuelled speculation about possible defections to the ruling alliance.

There were also reports that the MLAs had remained absent from state Congress meetings and boycotted the ‘Dahi-Chura’ feast organised on the occasion of Makar Sankranti at the party headquarters in Patna.

Due to these differences, the party has so far failed to elect the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader in the Bihar Assembly. It was expected that the name of the CLP leader would be announced during Friday’s meeting. However, Congress MLA Abhishek Ranjan told the media that no decision could be reached.

“No decision could be taken today regarding the Congress Legislature Party leader. Discussions were held among all senior leaders, and the responsibility of choosing the leader has been entrusted to the Congress High Command. The Congress High Command will soon announce the name of the CLP leader in the Bihar Assembly,” he said.