More than a month after Sonia Gandhi sacked former Bihar Congress chief Ashok Choudhury, the Congress is yet to appoint a full time unit, leading to rumblings within.
Party insiders argue a quick decision to appoint a strong State leader is essential for the party to draw up its plan to take on former ally, Nitish Kumar, and the BJP that snatched power from the Grand Alliance in July.
While several lobbies are at work, a large section of the party is backing Akhilesh Singh, projected to be a strong leader from the land owing and politically dominant caste of Bhumihars.
Test case
Others argue that Bihar is a test case on how the Congress’ top leadership decides on State level leaders.
They point out that removing Kaukab Qadiri, who is officiating as the party chief after Mr. Choudhury was sacked on September 26, will send a wrong message to ordinary workers.
Mr. Qadiri has been a long time Congress worker who has risen from the ranks while Mr. Singh, originally from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), is a high profile leader and a former Minister in the UPA government.
“Our State’s first Chief Minister Krishna Singh was a Bhumihar and the Congress can easily reach out through Mr. Singh. The BJP has done nothing for them and we have an opportunity,” says a supporter of Mr. Singh who has been virtually camping in Delhi for the past few days.
Ending uncertainty
Those who back Mr. Singh argue that a Bhumihar at the helm and a tie-up with Lalu Prasad’s RJD fits into the Congress’s caste calculus and helps end uncertainty. “There is no uncertainty and it is more like a strong arm tactic by one of the contenders,” said a senior leader who didn’t wish to come on record.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Qadiri denied that the Bihar Congress is deeply divided on the question of leadership.
“I didn’t have any information on my becoming the officiating president nor do I have any information of being removed. I have tried to take every worker along and thankful for this opportunity to Sonia ji and Rahul ji,” he said.
In September, Congress president Sonia Gandhi removed Mr. Ashok Choudhury as Bihar Congress chief after reports emerged that he was trying to persuade 14 of the Congress’s 27 MLAs to switch sides.
Mr. Choudhury, who was Education Minister in the Nitish government, denied the allegations that he made 14 of the Congress’s 27 MLAs switch sides and join Mr. Kumar.
But there have been persistent rumours that the Congress MLAs are being approached by political rivals to weaken the party. And that has led to many asking for a stronger State Congress chief.