Congress likely to submit MLAs’ abstention report to high command

Patna: State Congress president Rajesh Ram is expected to submit his report to the party high command within the next couple of days on the abstention of three Congress MLAs during the Rajya Sabha election held here on Monday. The abstention proved crucial, leading to the defeat of the Grand Alliance (GA) candidate and sitting Rajya Sabha member Amarendra Dhari Singh, and paving the way for the victory of NDA’s fifth nominee Shivesh Kumar.“Our state party president will send a detailed report to the high command in the next few days on the non-participation of our party’s three MLAs in the Rajya Sabha election. This was one of the factors that led to the defeat of the GA candidate,” state Congress media department head and spokesman Rajesh Rathore said.Four GA MLAs, including three from the Congress and one from the RJD Faisal Rehman (Dhaka), had abstained from voting on Monday. The three Congress MLAs are: Surendra Kushwaha (Valmiki Nagar), Manoj Biswas (Forbesganj) and Manohar Prasad Singh (Manihari).Incidentally, all three Congress MLAs have a history of political shifts. Surendra Kushwaha was earlier associated with the party led by Upendra Kushwaha. Singh had begun his political career with JD(U), winning his first assembly election in 2010, before later securing victory thrice on a Congress ticket. Meanwhile, Biswas previously served as the Araria district general secretary of the RJD.“The state president himself might not recommend action against them, since the three MLAs, technically, did not indulge in cross-voting, but abstained from voting. However, they have made unpalatable remarks about the party leadership. The party high command will take action against them,” Rathore said, adding that the state president’s report would be sent to the party president Mallikarjun Kharge and AICC general secretary K C Venugopal.As to the feelings of the workers in Bihar, Rathore said: “There is anger among the party’s workers against what our three MLAs did.”