Patna, Sept. 20: Dissenting voices are rising in the Congress in Bihar, with different sections signalling their intention to break away from the party if the high command - Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi - do not pay heed to their demands.

The split may happen as soon as the party organisational polls in the state are completed by next month. Any change at the top, such as choosing a new Bihar Congress chief, could expedite it.

MLC Ramchandra Bharti, a former general secretary of the Bihar unit, has demanded the Congress break the alliance with the RJD to prevent a split.

'Congress has become dependent on the RJD and Lalu Prasad in Bihar for the last 27 years,' Bharti said today. 'We are a national party and we are doled out 25 to 30 seats to contest by Lalu. Our party workers have become frustrated due to this. They cannot tolerate this any further and remain subjugated to the RJD. There is a strong possibility of our party breaking up.

'It is shameful that a person like Lalu should dictate terms to our party and decide our future,' Bharti said. 'We must separate from him to become strong again. The Congress high command should become alert about the rising discontent in the party.'

Sources said Bharti may join the JDU as he has been a long-time friend of chief minister Nitish Kumar. 'They have been neighbours at Bakhtiyarpur (where Nitish's ancestral house is) for a long time,' said a Congress source. 'Nitish had nominated Bharti to the MLC's post.'

Since Bharti was a nominated MLC, two weeks after he took oath he was asked to fill up Council documents related to the choice of political party with whom he wanted to be. He chose JDU, but changed it to Congress on Nitish's insistence, the source said.

A senior Congress leader said Bharti is not alone.

'Five MLAs are also in touch with Nitish to join the JDU,' he said.

The split will only happen if Bihar unit president Ashok Choudhary and Congress legislature party leader Sadanand Singh break away, the Congress leader said. They will also manage to gather 18 MLAs to evade the anti-defection law.

'Ashok has signalled that he will not remain in the party if he doesn't remain Bihar Congress president,' the senior Congress leader said. 'Similarly, Sadanand has been aggrieved that he was not made a minister in the Grand Alliance government despite being a nine-term MLA.'

Bihar Congress spokesperson Harkhu Jha said there is 'no chance' of a split. 'Ashok and Sadanand are still with us,' Jha said. 'Dissent by a couple of persons will have no effect. Our party is strong and our high command will decide alliance and policy matters.'