After MP, Congress may split in Bihar too

After Madhya Pradesh, some more shocking news is in the offing for the top Congress leadership. The grand old party, riding piggyback on RJD for the last two decades, is on the verge of a vertical split.

At least two unimpeachable sources in Congress told Deccan Herald here on Sunday that more than half of the 26 MLAs are in an advanced stage of negotiations with the ruling party JD(U).

Though there has been a sign of rebellion within the Congress for quite some time, the mandatory “two-thirds” number required to split the 26-member Congress legislators proved to be a deterrent.

However, with barely few months left before the term of the Assembly comes to an end and the Election Commission announces the poll schedule, the majority of the Congress legislators are girding up their loins to contest the ensuing Assembly elections either on JD (U) symbol or in alliance with Nitish Kumar’s outfit.

“The RJD had promised Congress a Rajya Sabha berth when former Kerala Governor Nikhil Kumar (who earlier was a Congress MP from Bihar’s Aurangabad) was denied Lok Sabha ticket in 2019. Now, during the Rajya Sabha election, when Congress in-charge Shakti Sinh Gohil reminded the RJD of its promise of an RS berth, the Bihar RJD chief Jagdanand Singh termed his (Gohil) letter as ‘fake’. Such a gesture is quite offending and has added insult to the injury. Despite our whole-hearted support to the RJD for two decades, Lalu has often treated Congress shabbily. No Congress MLA with self-respect would like to align with the RJD, which has back-stabbed us on all important occasions,” lamented one of the Congress legislators, ready to cross over the fence.

Another veteran Congress MLA, who earlier served as a minister, remarked: “The RJD ditched us during Lok Sabha elections too when it gave us just nine LS tickets when we had asked for at least 15. During the RS poll too, we were treated like a doormat. With friends like Lalu, Congress needs no enemies.”

Sources in the Congress said that a senior minister in Nitish's Cabinet, who was earlier in the grand old party, is holding parleys with the disgruntled Congress legislators. “It’s a fact that most of the Congress MLAs, who won during 2015 Assembly polls, emerged triumphant due to Nitish. These leaders now feel they have no future if the Congress ties up with Lalu again for Assembly polls. So, all those who can see the writing on the wall, are ready to jump the ship,” said the ruling party source, refusing to be identified.