Senior leaders from Bihar Congress has been calling on the newly elected chief of All India Congress Committee (AICC), Mallikarjun Kharge, in New Delhi to push for a revamp of the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC), party functionaries said.
Prominent leaders of the state Congress like AICC general secretary Tariq Anwar, former Kerala Governor Nikhil Kumar, BPCC campaign committee chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh, former BPCC chief Anil Sharma, former MLA Narendra Kumar, former BPCC treasurer Ajay Kumar, AICC member Kishore Kumar Jha and others recently met Khagre in New Delhi and sought his active intervention to energise the organisation in the state.
Though most of the leaders described their meetings with the AICC chief as a courtesy call to congratulate him on his elevation, they also urged him to look into the coalition issues in Bihar, as the party had to give up its claim on Gopalganj assembly seat, which it had contested in the last assembly election.
“Gopalganj was among 70 seats the Congress was allocated under seat adjustment of he Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-led Mahagadhbandhan (MGB). The party nominee had then garnered around 37,000 votes. Surprisingly, there was no clamour from the Congress to stake its claim, even as the RJD fielded its candidates on both Gopalganj and Mokama seats, going to the bypolls on November 3,” said one of the leaders.
Another leader said issues relating to long-delayed reconstitution of the BPCC were also discussed. “The three-year tenure of Madan Mohan Jha as the BPCC chief has ended last year. He has also resigned from the post last year. AICC in-charge for Bihar, Bhakta Charan Das, too has completed two years in the role. However, overall performance of the party, as seen in the results of past by-elections and MLC polls, has been nothing but disastrous,” he said, adding that party workers are thoroughly confused over the way Congress is being treated in the MGB.
Another senior leader said they had provided their inputs about state of the party in Bihar and expect some serious action from the AICC chief in conformity with Kharge’s election agenda. “Young faces could be given important responsibility to revitalise the party,” said a former BPCC vice-president, adding that a sustained campaign to this effect might be launched next month after Khagre reconstitutes the AICC.
