Congress MLAs blame RJD’s ‘wrong candidate’ for loss

Patna: The simmering infighting within Bihar’s opposition Grand Alliance came out in the open on Tuesday, a day after the Rajya Sabha polling, as Congress legislators openly blamed ally RJD for fielding what they described as a “wrong candidate”, leading to the opposition’s unexpected defeat.

Surendra Prasad Kushwaha, one of the three Congress MLAs who stayed away from voting on Monday, said he deliberately abstained because the RJD had made a poor choice in selecting its nominee for the biennial election. He questioned why Deepak Yadav, managing director of a sugar mill, or Vikassheel Insaan Party chief Mukesh Sahani was not chosen instead.

“The Mahagathbandhan had a better chance to win one seat in the election, so who could have been a better candidate than Deepak Yadav ji, and if not him, then Mukesh Sahani ji should have been given the opportunity. But instead of giving them a chance, a person from such a community was made the candidate whose support base is against the Mahagathbandhan. I cannot support the NDA, and since RJD chose the wrong candidate, I thought it better not to vote at all,” Kushwaha said in a Hindi post on social media.

He also defended himself against criticism, saying, “As for the allegations against me, I defeated the entire government machinery on the Chief Minister's most favored assembly seat (Valmiki Nagar) and won the assembly election. I am repaying the debt of the people's blessings by carrying out development works at the fastest pace. So when opponents cannot match this, they will resort to defaming.”

Another Congress MLA, Manoj Bishwas, also skipped voting and said his decision was in line with Bihar Congress president Rajesh Ram’s direction. The Forbesganj MLA said the RJD had fielded Amrendra Dhari Singh, a Bhumihar candidate, without consulting the state Congress leadership.

“The RJD did not consult our state president, Rajesh Ram. Therefore, Ram allowed us to make our own decision on whether to vote or not. Hence, I had decided not to vote in the Rajya Sabha election,” Bishwas said. He added, “If our leadership is not given due respect, how can we support the candidate?”

Amrendra Dhari Singh’s campaign was led by senior Congress leader Akhilesh Singh, who also belongs to the Bhumihar community. Besides Kushwaha and Vishwas, Congress MLA Manohar Prasad Singh and RJD legislator Faisal Rahman also remained absent, costing the opposition crucial numbers.

Independent MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav attacked leader of opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, accusing him of failing to build consensus or consult Congress leaders.

Singh needed at least 41 votes for a comfortable win, but secured only 37. Assembly officials said that had the four absent opposition MLAs voted, the Grand Alliance candidate would have reached 41 and won. All 202 NDA MLAs voted, while only 37 Grand Alliance legislators turned up. “Except for four absentees, no case of cross-voting was reported,” an official said.