By Akhileshwari Anand Raj
The Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ashok Choudhury was sacked by the Congress President Sonia Gandhi, in light of the alleged split in the party in Bihar. This was confirmed by party spokesperson Janardhan Dwivedi on 27th September 2017.
Rumoured split
The Congress party in Bihar is rumoured to be on the verge of a split as 14 out of the 27 MLAs have formed an informal group and are planning to switch sides into the ruling JD (U). Since a two-thirds majority is required for a party split, this informal group requires only four more willing MLAs to formalise its division.
This is a crucial move in Bihar: although the JD(U)-BJP coalition enjoys a majority in the legislature, a split in the Congress will offer Nitish a fallback option in handling his other opponents.
Complaints against Bihar leader
At least three complaints have been made to the Congress President directly by Bihars Congress MLAs regarding Choudhurys behaviour. It was alleged that he had fraudulently taken their signatures on a letter that declared a split in the legislature party and pledged support to the current ruling government headed by Nitish Kumar.
Getting the hint of a possible split led the partys central leadership to summon Choudhary and Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader Sadanand Singh to New Delhi on 2nd September. In this meeting, Sonia Gandhi expressed her unhappiness over their failure and asked them to prevent a split.
Events indicative of the split
In August, four of the 27 MLAs skipped a meeting called by a senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia in Patna. This was in continuation to their demand that the state chief Choudhury be removed. One of these MLAs, Sarwat Jahan Fatima, stated that Choudhury had done nothing for the party despite being party president and a minister.
Later in August, Choudhurys faction of the Bihar Congress did not attend an anti-BJP rally which was attended by senior national Congress leaders like the leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad and party general secretary, CP Joshi. This only furthered reports that a rift was possible in the state unit of the party.
Reactions to the divide
Choudhury broke down at a press conference after being sacked, accusing the Congress of humiliation. He alleged that his removal from his position as a top leader in Bihar was handled without sensitivity because he is a Dalit. He stated that he did not deserve to be insulted and expelled from the party. Further, he said that he was not keen on leaving the party but had no choice except to do so.
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