New Delhi, June 7: Electoral compulsions of secular parties might have accorded some importance to the Congress in Bihar but the party high command is contemplating measures to correct the pitiable state of affairs in the state leadership.

Party veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad reached Patna yesterday to make an objective assessment in a clear signal that general secretary in-charge C.P. Joshi was not being fully trusted. Though the official reason given for Azad's visit was Joshi's engagement in Bengal for Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's visit, sources said piles of complaints against the former Union minister from the Bihar leaders forced the high command to seek an alternative view.

Though supporters and detractors of the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ashok Choudhary - who is firmly aligned with the general secretary - fought in front of Azad today, Joshi had faced a much uglier scene at a meeting some days ago. Many senior leaders, including MLAs Jyoti, Chandan Bagchi and Padmasha Jha, had abused Joshi and challenged his political wisdom, bluntly accusing him of bias, ignorance and arrogance.

Some of Choudhary's supporters wrote to Sonia Gandhi, seeking action against these leaders for indiscipline. The high command, however, chose to get an independent assessment before arriving at a conclusion. Abusing a general secretary is indisputably never tolerated but the high command's lenient approach came against the backdrop of a sustained rebellion against Joshi over the past several months.

While the majority of Bihar leaders have complained to Sonia and Rahul against Joshi's gross apathy to the affairs of the state, they have also repeatedly registered their protest against Choudhary for his unseemly activities, maligning the historic legacy of Sadaquat Ashram, the party headquarters in Patna. These leaders, including some senior central leaders, have conveyed to Sonia the undesirable activities happening under the current state leadership.

These leaders have tried to convince the president and vice-president for a change of leadership in Bihar but the timing appears to have saved the incumbent state chief for now. In fact, Rahul's visit to Bihar has been delayed so long only because of internal dissensions, as the high command was aware of the serious reservations against Joshi and Choudhary. Last year, all the district presidents of Bihar had come to Delhi to demand a change of leadership in the state. The dominant view is that it is too late for a change of guard.

It is ironical that the Bihar unit has always been entangled in conspiracies, internal fights and sabotage even as the organisation continues to be in a complete mess, going from bad to worse in terms of political clout. All the state unit chiefs and general secretaries of the recent past faced similar crises, being compelled to focus their energies on managing intra-party rifts instead of reaching out to the people. The party won merely four seats in the last Assembly election despite Rahul's active campaign.

But the current situation is unique. While central leaders blamed internal tussle among state leaders for the crisis in the past, now, they feel the Joshi-Choudhary duo is the main culprit behind the pathetic state of affairs. Senior leaders like Meira Kumar, Akhilesh Singh, Sadanand Singh, Ramjatan Sinha, Ashok Ram, Chandan Bagchi, Nikhil Kumar, etc are opposed to their continuance and have almost refused to work under their leadership.

Many leaders have conveyed this feeling to Azad over the past two days.

Amid the internal problems and talks of alliance, Azad today said the party would play its role according to the situation.

Asked which side the Congress would go in case the alliance does not go through over the chief ministerial candidate, he said: "The party will support the person who not only speaks for the people but also works. Action speaks louder than words, so of course, we would like a person who implements his promises and not just talks. So far as the chief ministerial candidate is concerned, Nitish Kumar is still the chief minister of the state."

Additional reporting by Amit Bhelari in Patna