No change of guard in Himachal Congress

NEW DELHI: Congress legislators from Bihar have urged party vice-president Rahul Gandhi to step in to resolve the leadership crisis in the state, and also take an immediate call on an alliance with Rash triyaJa nat aD al( R JD) for the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

Congress sources did not rule a change of guard in Bi h arin view of the growing clamour for removal of state president Ashok Chaudhary, who faces allegations of trying to split the party to “help” Bi ha rC M Ni ti sh Kumar in terms of enhancing the strength of the ruling Janata Dal (United) in the 243-member assembly.

Ni ti sh dumped the Ma ha ga thband han of Congress-R JD- JD( U) in July and formed a coalition government with BJP. Chaudhary, a Dalit face of the Congress and an education minister in the previous government, denied the accusation as “false propaganda”. He blamed a few central leaders for fuelling the rebellion and spreading “lies” about him.

Gandhi summoned all 27 Congress legislators to Delhi for discussion on alliance and the leadership issue. While he met 11 leg- islatorsonWednesday,10others interacted with him on Thursday. At this meeting, the legislators argued that if the alliance with RJD was sealed well in advance, the party would be in a better position to bargain for a good numberof seats. Any delay in the decision will give enough room to the RJD chief and force the Congress to accept whatever he offers, they told Gandhi.