Ousted Bihar Congress President Ashok Choudhary on Wednesday said he was disappointed over his dismissal from the post, but refuted rumours that he will quit the party. On Tuesday, Congress President Sonia Gandhi had removed Choudhary from the post of the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee chief with immediate effect.

“While I do not accept this decision, I have no intention of leaving the party,” Choudhary said. “As a committed Congressman, I expected an honourable exit from the party post.”

The ouster followed speculation that a few Congress members, including Choudhary, were engineering a defection to the Janata Dal (United). However, on September 7, Choudhary had accused some Congress leaders of “fuelling a rebellion” against him with “false propaganda”.

Political tensions have been high in Bihar since July 26 when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar broke his Janata Dal (United)’s alliance with the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal in the state, and resigned from the post. He later allied with the Bharatiya Janata Party, and was sworn in as the chief minister again.