The Congress on Tuesday issued a strong denial that senior leaders from Bihar have been dropped from a panel that is selecting candidates for the coming Assembly polls after complaints of ‘irregularities’ in ticket distribution.
The episode, however, brought into focus the Congress’s Bihar fault lines out in the open, prompting former party chief Rahul Gandhi to intervene.
There was a news alert on twitter (now deleted) by the All India Radio (AIR) that Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) chief Madan Mohan Jha, Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader Sadanand Singh and former Union Minister Akhilesh Prasad Singh have been dropped from the party's Screening Committee following charges of irregularities.
“@INCIndia party is in complete denial of the news. It is very unfortunate that, a credible and responsible organization like @airnewsalerts have given out this misguiding information without even verifying with the authorities at AICC”, Avinash Pande, chairman of the Congress Screening Committee, tweeted.
He said the leaders mentioned in this post by @airnewsalerts were respectable and active members, who were seriously involved in the proceedings of screening for #BiharElections”.
Irrespective of such claims, last Sunday, party chief Sonia Gandhi ‘s announcement of key election panels to oversee the party’s election campaign, right in the middle of the poll campaign, was a clear indication that of the State unit being sidelined.
Party general secretary Randeep Surjewala, a close aide of Mr. Gandhi, has being made in-charge of the Election Management and Coordination Committee that includes prominent leaders like Meira Kumar, Shakeel Ahmed, Tariq Anwar, Kirti Azad, Shatrughan Sinha and Nikhil Kumar.
Neither Mr. Jha, , Mr. Sadanand Singh and Mr. Akhilesh Prasad Singh were made part of any of these panels.
‘Irregularities’ charges
Following the first list that included several new comers from the Janata Dal (United) (JD-U) and the BJP, there were allegations of “irregularities” by party old-timers. There were also objections about certain candidates having serious charges, including crimes against women.
Of the 70 seats that the Congress is contesting in alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the party has managed to declare only 21 seats.
To add to the confusion, the party's central election committee, headed by Ms. Gandhi, postponed its Monday meeting to Wednesday to clear the list for the remaining 49 seats.
A senior leader, however, said the delay was because of last minute differences that have cropped up between the RJD and the Congress over 7-9 seats.
“The central election committee is meeting tomorrow and we are hopeful of clearing most of the pending seats,” he said.
