Congress MLA Sanjay Tiwari revolts against legislature party chief, accuses him of 'weakening' Bihar unit

Patna: A Congress MLA on Monday raised a banner of revolt against the legislature party leader, less than a week after the party suffered a split in the Bihar Legislative Council. Accusing CLP leader Sadanand Singh of “weakening” the party in the state, Congress MLA Sanjay Kumar Tiwari alias Munna Tiwari said he will be visiting Delhi after the conclusion of the Assembly session next month to apprise the high command of the situation in the state unit. “Singh has been taking steps that are weakening the party in the state. The Bhabhua Assembly by-poll is a case in point where he lobbied hard and secured the party ticket for one Shambhu Patel, who has not been a long-time Congress worker,” the Buxar MLA said. “I suspect that personal consideration was behind the choice of the candidate and the CLP leader paid no heed to the social and political realities of the assembly segment. Otherwise what was the point in fielding an OBC candidate from a Brahmin-dominated seat,” he asked. [caption id=“attachment_4376931” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] By-polls will be held for Bhabhua and Jahanabad Assembly seats as well as Araria Lok Sabha constituency on 11 March. The Congress, however, is only contesting from the Bhabhua constituency, where the by-election was necessitated following the death of sitting BJP MLA Anand Bhushan Pandey. The BJP has fielded the deceased MLA’s wife Rinky Pandey from the seat. The grand old party suffered a split in the Legislative Council recently, after former Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ashok Choudhary and three other members of the Congress Legislature Party in the Upper House quit the Congress to join the ruling Janata Dal (United). Tiwari, who is considered to be close to Choudhary, said, “I am with the Congress and have no plans to switch sides. But I will be failing my moral obligations if I remain quiet in the face of what is happening in the state unit.” There are many other MLAs who feel likewise, the MLA said. “Those that agree with what I feel may accompany me when I will place the facts before the high command. But even if no one else musters the courage, I will be doing it alone,” Tiwari claimed. The Congress has 27 MLAs in the 243-member Bihar Vidhan Sabha.