Rebels blame Bihar Congress leaders for poll debacle

PATNA: Internal conflict within the Bihar Congress unit has escalated after all the 43 leaders, who were served with show-cause notices by the disciplinary committee last week for their anti-party activities, submitted their responses, dismissing the charges. The group, described as rebels, accused the state leadership of acting arbitrarily and ignoring organisational procedures. The members of the group held discussions among themselves ahead of sending their responses to the notices. Hitting out at the state leadership, the rebels said notices were served on them without a disciplinary inquiry and clearance from national leadership. As per rules, central leaderships approval is mandatory in such cases, they said. Accusing state president Rajesh Kumar of running the organisation through unilateral decisions and sidelining internal dialogue, the rebels said he did not pay heed to complaints made from workers at district and block levels. They alleged that lack of dialogue among workers has weakened the partys structure at grassroots, which reflected in the assembly polls. The state leaders are puppets in the hands of RSS-BJP, they claimed. The leaders said any harsh action against them would further cause loss to the party after the poll debacle. The central leadership should focus on resolving issues within party, they said. When contacted, a senior Congress leader said the rebels responses were under review of the disciplinary committee. Further action will be taken on the basis of the committees report, he said. The leader who did not wish to be named said that the central leadership would be apprised of the recommendation of the disciplinary committee. The party functions under certain rules and they will be followed in this case as well, he said. Meanwhile, rebel leaders seem not in a mood to relent. They said that they would discuss future course of action at their next meeting if their voices were suppressed further. We have raised issues in the interest of the organisation, they claimed. Action after disciplinary committee report: Leader A senior Congress leader stated that the rebels responses were under review of the disciplinary committee. Further action will be taken on the basis of the committees report, he said. The leader, who did not wish to be named, said that the central leadership would be apprised of the recommendation of the disciplinary committee.