Senior Congress party leader and party in-charge of Bihar Shaktisinh Gohil on Tuesday urged party high command to relieve him from the post as soon as possible.
“Due to personal reasons, I have requested our Party High Command to allocate me lighter work for the next few months and to relieve me ASAP as#Bihar incharge,” Mr. Gohil tweeted on Tuesday.
Ruling NDA leaders were quick to react. “Mr. Gohil’s tweet proves that Congress party runs on social media. The party is yet to get over the crushing defeat in the last assembly elections, winning just 19 seats out of 70 contested,” mocked BJP leader and party spokesperson Nikhil Anand.
However, State Congress party leaders said, “Mr. Gohil tested COVID-19 positive and has not fully recovered yet.” The leader had not visited Bihar since November first week.
In the last Assembly election, the Congress party, a partner in the Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan), had contested in 70 seats but could win only on 19. The poor performance of the Congress party, several leaders said, was responsible for Mahagathbandhan not coming to power. The NDA got 125 seats while the Mahagathbandhan won 110 seats in the 243-seat State assembly.
After the poll result, senior party leaders like State in-charge Shaktisinh Gohil and others were accused by some party leaders of selling party tickets and making the State unit faction-ridden.
JD(U) leader and spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan said, “Mr. Gohil was made scapegoat for the party’s dismal performance in last Assembly poll”.
Alliance partner RJD leader and party spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari wondered, “What’s wrong if Mr. Gohil has urged top party leadership to relieve him from the post for a lighter work, as we all know he has not been keeping well for sometime. Why his tweet is causing pain in the stomach for BJP-JD(U)?”
Earlier, senior RJD leader Shivanand Tiwari had taken on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for not taking Bihar election seriously and treating it like a “picnic”.