Patna: Over two dozen Congress leaders and workers joined chief minister Nitish Kumar's party, the JDU, on Sunday in yet another sign that the once mighty edifice of the grand old party in Bihar is crumbling.
The Congress, however, claimed that the exodus would not hurt the party and none of the deserters were leaders of any consequence.
Those who joined the JDU in the presence of MLC and former Bihar Congress president Ashok Choudhary on Sunday included Vidyanand Singh and Saurabh Nidhi, district Congress presidents from Muzaffarpur and Munger, respectively.
Choudhary, who recently joined the JDU with three other MLCs, said that the Congress in Bihar is "suffering from leadership crisis and has strayed from its policy and ideology.
"Workers in Congress are not given due respect. Many more workers will join JDU in the coming days. Congress will become a worker-less party in Bihar," Choudhary added.
Scores of Congress leaders and workers have joined the JDU following the footsteps of Choudhary and three other Congress MLCs, who joined the ruling party on February 28. Bihar Congress president in-charge Kaukab Quadri put up a brave face.
"All those who are leaving the Congress have no stature in the party," Quadri said. "They were planted at various posts by Choudhary as part of a conspiracy. He had done this to establish his own group and sabotage the party whenever needed. He got an opportunity because Nitish wanted to bring a Dalit face to the NDA to take the place of Jitan Ram Manjhi who joined our Grand Alliance with the RJD."
Quadri also dismissed Choudhary's assertion that several Congress legislators were ready to join the JDU.
"All our MLAs are with the party because they come from families associated with the Congress for generations," he said.
On Sunday, Quadri met RJD leader Rabri Devi at her 10 Circular Road residence, and they are learnt to have discussed strategy for the forthcoming polls to the Rajya Sabha and the Legislative Council. Coordination for the bypolls campaigning was also discussed.
