JOIN USCongress may go the Rajasthan way in Bihar
It's not only in Rajasthan where the Congress is on the verge of an imminent split. In the poll-bound Bihar, the grand old party is heading towards a vertical split with the majority of the MLAs likely to shift their allegiance to Nitish Kumar's JD(U).
This was confirmed by two Congress sources who conceded to DH that a senior minister, who is also a close aide to Bihar Chief Minister, is in an advanced stage of negotiations with the Congress legislators. "Shortly before the poll notification for Bihar Assembly election is announced, there will be a mass exodus in the Congress with around 15 out of 26 MLAs likely to cross over to the JD (U)," said the source.
"The Congress had won 27 seats during 2015 Assembly polls. Out of which one legislator Md Javed became an MP in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Of the remaining 26 legislators, a large chunk of the MLAs owe their victory to Nitish, who was gracious enough to give Congress 41 seats out of 243 constituencies to contest in the Grand Alliance (which also then had RJD in its fold) in 2015," the source told DH here on Wednesday.
Ruling party sources too have not denied the move as they feel there is no substitute to Nitish in Bihar. "The Congress MLAs, who are ready to cross over the fence, see a bleak future for themselves if they continue in the grand old party. By joining the JD(U), they will not only ensure their victory and strengthen Nitish's hands, but they will also bolster the Chief Minister's position within the NDA and ensure that the JD(U) plays the role of a big brother by wresting more seats than the BJP," a senior member in the ruling dispensation told DH.
Most of these Congress legislators have been reportedly nursing grudges for long, as they are averse to joining hands with the RJD or playing second fiddle to Lalu's outfit after the RJD treated Congress shabbily during the parliamentary elections and gave merely nine Lok Sabha seats to contest out of 40 parliamentary constituencies in Bihar in 2019.
"The split in Congress is inevitable. But it will take place most likely after the short-duration monsoon session of the State Assembly in August," said the source who earlier served as Bihar Congress president.