PATNA: The Congress has issued show-cause notices to three of its MLAs who abstained from voting in the recently held Rajya Sabha elections in Bihar. The party currently has six legislators in the 243-member Bihar Legislative Assembly.
Apparently displeased with their absence, the Congress on Wednesday served notices to Manoj Biswas (Forbesganj), Surendra Kushwaha (Valmiki Nagar) and Manohar Prasad (Manihari), seeking an explanation for not voting in favour of Mahagathbandhan candidate A.D. Singh in the biennial elections held on March 16.
The notices were issued by Kapil Deo Singh Yadav, head of the state Congress disciplinary committee. “The three MLAs have been asked to respond within three days of receiving the notice,” a senior Congress leader said, declining to share further details as he was not authorised to speak to the media.
Bihar Congress president Rajesh Kumar said the matter was under review by the disciplinary committee. “Let the replies from the absentee MLAs come. The committee will recommend action if their responses are found unsatisfactory,” he added.
In addition to the three Congress MLAs, one legislator from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) also abstained from voting. The absence of these four MLAs resulted in a walkover for the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which won all five seats from the state.
Although the 35-MLA coalition led by the RJD had the backing of AIMIM and one Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) legislator, its candidate, Amrendra Dhari Singh, failed to secure re-election to the Upper House for a second consecutive term.
The defeat has triggered a blame game within the Mahagathbandhan alliance. The RJD has held the Congress responsible. “AIMIM and BSP legislators supported our candidate, but we lost due to non-cooperation from Congress MLAs,” said RJD spokesperson Mritunjay Tiwari.
He also accused the BJP of engaging in horse-trading and misusing government machinery to secure the NDA’s victory.
Meanwhile, Congress workers staged a protest in Patna on Thursday over a shortage of LPG cylinders. Demonstrators burnt an effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and warned of intensifying their agitation if cooking gas supplies are not restored soon.