Policemen try to calm down supporters of rival Congress factions during a clash at the party headquarters in Patna on Tuesday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey
Patna, March 3: Violence broke out at Congress's state headquarters Sadaquat Ashram with two factions of the party exchanging blows and abuses against each other. The scuffle left three persons injured.
The reason for the unseemly row was the recent reconstitution of the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) by its president Ashok Choudhary. Angry at being dropped as the party's Begusarai chief, Sarjan Singh, along with his 150 supporters sat on a dharna on the premises of Sadaquat Ashram.
'Ashok had used his whims replacing the committed party workers by his cronies in the BPCC,' Sarjan alleged.
Senior Congress leader Umakant Singh condemned the incident. 'This is unprecedented. What has happened is against the Congress culture. The party high command must stop hooliganism,' he said. Some senior leaders spoke in Sarjan's support. But Choudhary said the BPCC had been reconstituted in 'consultation' with the party high command and senior leaders.
