The prospect of a marginalised role in the emerging grand secular alliance in Bihar has disquieted a large number of local Congress leaders, making them pre-emptively look to other parties for tickets in the upcoming state Assembly elections.
The two outfits specifically being approached by these Congressmen are Ramvilas Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party and the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party of Upendra Kushwaha. Both these are constituents of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance and are considered caste-specific parties.
Neither the Congress leaders knocking on the doors of the LJP and RLSP nor these parties offered on-the-record statements, yet in private conversations they conceded the extensive, albeit hushed, hobnobbing taking place in preparation for the polls scheduled in October-November this year.
Behind the Congressmen’s overtures are their fears of being eclipsed into insignificance by the other prospective members of the grand secular alliance – the Janata Dal (United) and Rashtriya Janata Dal.
In the 2010 Assembly polls, the JD(U) had contested 141 seats and won 115, while the RJD had put up candidates in 168 constituencies and won 22. If the grand alliance is firmed up this time, these two parties are likely to contest in more than 200 of the total 243 Assembly seats, leaving little space for the Congress. Even if unhappy with a marginal role, the Congress will have no option but to play along since it won just four seats in the 2010 polls despite fielding a candidate in each constituency.
It is this looming marginalisation that has forced many politically ambitious district-level leaders of the Congress to look for new avenues to further their career prospects.
Pervasive fear factor
“In the event of an alliance, which seems certain now, most Assembly seats in the state would get divided between the JD(U) and the RJD,” said a Congress leader, who has been in touch with the RLSP leadership to secure a ticket for himself. “As part of this alliance, the Congress will have to contest in a small number of constituencies. If I have to stay in politics, I must look for ways to contest election.”
According to a senior Congress leader, the feat factor in the rank and file of the party in Bihar has become so acute that there are concerns of a large-scale exodus to the LJP and the RLSP.
“It is true that there is an atmosphere of uncertainty among leaders having well-entrenched positions in their respective constituencies,” said a senior leader in Bihar. “But why is the Congress facing this crisis? It is because, despite the crushing defeat in the Lok Sabha election, no major organisational change was effected to revive the party’s standing in state politics. Now, when elections are around the corner, you cannot expect much from the central leadership.”
Clash between workers
Indeed, a few months after the humiliating general election rout, a large delegation of angry party leaders from Bihar, including 26 of the 39 district presidents, had met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and demanded the removal of state Congress unit chief Ashok Choudhary besides a revamp of the party organisation in the state. But the central leadership apparently preferred status quo.
Since then, the discontent in the rank and file has surfaced at regular intervals. As late as on March 22, a clash broke out between two groups of Congress workers near Jehanabad during the party’s five-day march from Bodh Gaya to Patna. That fracas was another reflection of the unhappiness boiling up against the state leadership. According to reports, a section of Congress workers, who are loyal to a disgruntled party functionary, also raised slogans against Ashok Choudhary.
Party insiders believe the Jehanabad clash was not a stray incident. Instead, they see it as a portent of large-scale desertions from the Congress in Bihar.
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The two outfits specifically being approached by these Congressmen are Ramvilas Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party and the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party of Upendra Kushwaha. Both these are constituents of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance and are considered caste-specific parties.
Neither the Congress leaders knocking on the doors of the LJP and RLSP nor these parties offered on-the-record statements, yet in private conversations they conceded the extensive, albeit hushed, hobnobbing taking place in preparation for the polls scheduled in October-November this year.
Behind the Congressmen’s overtures are their fears of being eclipsed into insignificance by the other prospective members of the grand secular alliance – the Janata Dal (United) and Rashtriya Janata Dal.
In the 2010 Assembly polls, the JD(U) had contested 141 seats and won 115, while the RJD had put up candidates in 168 constituencies and won 22. If the grand alliance is firmed up this time, these two parties are likely to contest in more than 200 of the total 243 Assembly seats, leaving little space for the Congress. Even if unhappy with a marginal role, the Congress will have no option but to play along since it won just four seats in the 2010 polls despite fielding a candidate in each constituency.
It is this looming marginalisation that has forced many politically ambitious district-level leaders of the Congress to look for new avenues to further their career prospects.
Pervasive fear factor
“In the event of an alliance, which seems certain now, most Assembly seats in the state would get divided between the JD(U) and the RJD,” said a Congress leader, who has been in touch with the RLSP leadership to secure a ticket for himself. “As part of this alliance, the Congress will have to contest in a small number of constituencies. If I have to stay in politics, I must look for ways to contest election.”
According to a senior Congress leader, the feat factor in the rank and file of the party in Bihar has become so acute that there are concerns of a large-scale exodus to the LJP and the RLSP.
“It is true that there is an atmosphere of uncertainty among leaders having well-entrenched positions in their respective constituencies,” said a senior leader in Bihar. “But why is the Congress facing this crisis? It is because, despite the crushing defeat in the Lok Sabha election, no major organisational change was effected to revive the party’s standing in state politics. Now, when elections are around the corner, you cannot expect much from the central leadership.”
Clash between workers
Indeed, a few months after the humiliating general election rout, a large delegation of angry party leaders from Bihar, including 26 of the 39 district presidents, had met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and demanded the removal of state Congress unit chief Ashok Choudhary besides a revamp of the party organisation in the state. But the central leadership apparently preferred status quo.
Since then, the discontent in the rank and file has surfaced at regular intervals. As late as on March 22, a clash broke out between two groups of Congress workers near Jehanabad during the party’s five-day march from Bodh Gaya to Patna. That fracas was another reflection of the unhappiness boiling up against the state leadership. According to reports, a section of Congress workers, who are loyal to a disgruntled party functionary, also raised slogans against Ashok Choudhary.
Party insiders believe the Jehanabad clash was not a stray incident. Instead, they see it as a portent of large-scale desertions from the Congress in Bihar.
