Rift deepens in Bihar Congress as dissident leaders continue district outreach

The Bihar Pradesh Congress leadership and a dissident faction are once again at odds. The state Congress has accused the dissident group of misleading party workers and weakening the organisation.

In a letter, the Bihar Congress advised party members to stay away from district tour programmes organised by “leaders involved in anti-party activities.”

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“The following individuals are touring Bihar and misleading Congress workers while weakening the Congress party. These individuals have been involved in anti-party activities since the time of the Assembly elections. Therefore, disciplinary action has been taken against them by the Party Disciplinary Committee,” the letter stated.

Among the dissident leaders named in the letter are Chhatrapati Yadav, Anand Madhab, Sudhir Kumar alias Bunty Chaudhary, Raj Kumar Rajan, Nagendra Paswan Vikal, Madhurendra Kumar Singh, Pradyumna Yadav, Shakeelur Rahman, Urmila Singh Neelu, Sudha Mishra, Wasi Akhtar, Kaiser Khan, Kundan Gupta, and Raj Kumar Sharma.

District-level office-bearers have been instructed to send the names of those involved in anti-party activities to the State Congress Disciplinary Committee to ensure action against them.

However, the dissident faction maintains that it is working to strengthen the organisation, and claims to be receiving strong support from party workers. The group alleges that the state leadership’s statements are driven by fear.

Congress leader Anand Madhab said the faction has been receiving an enthusiastic response from workers during the tour, with district office-bearers also in attendance. He alleged that the current leadership has become apprehensive due to the support they are garnering.

The dissident faction is scheduled to hold a conference in Patna on 17 March, which it claims will see participation from Congress leaders across Bihar.

Madhab further said the state leadership has no substantive issues left and, instead of engaging in dialogue, is adopting the wrong approach. He added that the central leadership should initiate talks with them.