Bihar: Senior Congress leaders eye for accommodation in legislative council poll

Although biennial polls for six Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar are also due in March, none in the Congress party appears keen to contest it as current Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh is aspiring for his re-election for the second term

With seat-sharing talks for the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) in Bihar still in limbo, many senior Congress leaders, including former Union ministers, are eyeing their accommodation in the legislative council, the biennial election for 11 seats is due in April next year.

Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh (HT Photo)

The term of chief minister Nitish Kumar, former chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Rabri Devi, water resources minister and Janata Dal (United) (JD-U) leader Sanjay Kumar Jha, deputy chairman of Bihar legislative council and RJD leader Ram Chandra Purve, former State Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Mangal Pandey and BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain, Congress leader Prem Chandra Mishra, et al, is expiring in the legislative council on May 6.

Although biennial polls for six Rajya Sabha (RS) seats from Bihar are also due in March, none in the Congress party appears keen to contest it as current Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh is aspiring for his re-election for the second term. His present tenure as RS member is ending on April 2, along with BJP’s Sushil Kumar Modi, Manoj Jha and Ashfaque Karim of the RJD and Bashishtha Narain Singh and Anil Hegde of the JD-U.

BPCC office is agog with the talks that former Union minister and All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Tariq Anwar, former Union minister and former BPCC president Shakeel Ahmad, AICC secretary Chandan Yadav, former BPCC vice president Pravin Kushwaha, etc., are lobbying hard for the sole seat going vacant on the expiration of term of Prem Chandra Mishra. A party insider said that Mishra too is hoping for his re-election based on his ‘outstanding’ performance in the house.

A section of the BPCC leaders believed that managing the legislative council election was much easier than that of the RS, as it required votes of only 21 MLAs to get elected for the council against 37 for the RS. Moreover, as per the present arithmetic, Congress has only one quota both in the council and the RS. “No one is willing to challenge the might of the BPCC chief, who himself is the candidate. Mishra’s position is vulnerable as he lacked blessings of the AICC leaders vis-à-vis of the party stalwarts, who are keen to exploit their caste combination, particularly in view of the Congress party’s emphasis on caste-based enumeration,” said a former MLA, wishing not to be quoted.

Anwar and Ahmad are looking to get a berth, citing their minority tag, while Chandan Yadav and Pravin Kushwaha have been claiming the legislative council seat owing to their other backward caste (OBC) background. However, some of the party leaders felt that minority leaders from Bihar have already been accommodated in senior positions as the Congress legislature party leader (CLP), Congress working committee, etc., while OBC leader Ranjeet Ranjan has been made the RS member from Chattisgarh.

Another senior party leader said that BPCC chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh could play a pivotal role in determining the fate of senior leaders in the legislative council, as the AICC is up for revamp and the in-charge for Bihar might change soon.