Bihar Cong list: FIR filed, Tytler blames leak on media

Congress leader in charge of Bihar Jagdish Tytler on Thursday claimed that an internal party document was “stolen’’ and leaked to the media by forces “inimical’’ to him even as an FIR was filed against him and state unit chief Anil Sharma for violating the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by mentioning the castes of the newly appointed Congress team in the state.

Congress leader in charge of Bihar Jagdish Tytler on Thursday claimed that an internal party document was “stolen’’ and leaked to the media by forces “inimical’’ to him even as an FIR was filed against him and state unit chief Anil Sharma for violating the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by mentioning the castes of the newly appointed Congress team in the state.

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Tytler cried foul, lashed out at the media, claiming that the list that was officially released did not contain caste names or that of Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.

In drawing this distinction, Tytler was marshalling his arguments against the FIR — that the party had not released the list but someone had “stolen’’ an in-house document.

In Delhi, general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said: “The PCC is responsible for whatever they have released officially.’’

But any hope the Congress may have had of the controversy petering out appears to have died with the filing of the FIR.

Left embarrassed by the state unit’s faux pas, the AICC is inquiring into how the caste based list reached the media and how did it include the name and caste of Meira Kumar who holds a constitutional post as Lok Sabha Speaker. Dwivedi is reportedly conducting this inquiry.

With the party’s image taking a beating in poll-bound Bihar, a section in the state has been demanding Tytler’s removal and a leadership change in the state.

On Thursday, a delegation of Bihar Congress leaders took their complaint to party chief Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel.