Madan Mohan Jha
In a major administrative reshuffle of the crisis-ridden Bihar unit, the Congress on Tuesday appointed Madan Mohan Jha as the party's state president. Rajya Sabha MP Akhilesh Prasad Singh, who was being seen as a front-runner for the PCC chief post, has been made the Chairman of the Campaign Committee, according to a release issued from the office of Shakti Singh Gohil, the AICC in-charge for Bihar.
The post of BPCC president was vacant for more than a year after removal of Ashok Choudhary following disintegration of the 'grand alliance' in July 2017 in which Congress was a constituent with the RJD and JD(U).
Choudhary later walked out of the Congress and joined Nitish Kumar's JD(U).
In the restructured BPCC, there are four Working Presidents including the incumbent Kaukab Qadri who has been holding the post since Choudhary quit in September last year. Others members include Shyam Sundar Dheeraj, Samir Kumar Singh and Ashok Kumar, the release said.
A 23-member PCC working committee has also been constituted which includes names like state women wing president Amita Bhushan and vocal party MLC Prem Chand Mishra, the release said.
In addition, a 19-member advisory committee has been set up comprising senior leaders like Akhilesh Prasad Singh, Lok Sabha member Ranjeeta Ranjan, former Union ministers Shakeel Ahmed and K K Tiwari, former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and Congress legislature party leader Sadanand Singh.
Thanking the party high command for entrusting him with the responsibility, Jha, a sitting member of the state legislative council, told reporters that he would try to take along everyone in the state unit riven by factional feuds.
Asked about two former state party presidents -- Ashok Choudhary and Mehboob Ali Kaisar -- joining other parties in the recent past, Jha, whose father Nagendra Jha was a veteran Congress leader himself, said, "We are Congressmen for life."
Kaisar is at present Lok Sabha member from the Lok Janshakti Party of Ram Vilas Paswan.
Jha's induction is being seen as an attempt by the party an attempt to woo a section of upper castes. Akhilesh Singh, also an upper caste leader, was a union minister of state from RJD quota in the UPA I. He later crossed over to the Congress.
He was recently elected to Rajya Sabha from Bihar with the support of MLAs of the RJD.
The anti-NDA grouping in Bihar comprises Lalu Prasad's RJD, which enjoys the support of the Yadav community besides the minorities, and the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) of former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, who is expected to bring along a chunk of dalit votes.
