3 min readPatnaMar 1, 2018 04:46 AM IST
First published on: Mar 1, 2018 at 04:46 AM IST
Ashok Kumar Choudhary,
Former Bihar Congress president Ashok Kumar Choudhary, who had rebelled long back and was absolved of the position of party’s state chief, on Wednesday quit Congress with three other MLCs and announced the decision to join JD(U). The three Members of Legislative Council (MLCs) are Dilip Chaudhury, Tanveer Akhtar and Ram Chandra Bharti.
Ashok Choudhary called Nitish Kumar the “finest Bihar CM” after the state’s first chief minister — Srikrishna Singh. Choudhary is the second former Bihar Congress president to quit the party. He follows Choudhary Mehboob Ali Qaisar, now the Lok Sabha MP from Khagaria representing LJP.
Earlier in the day, Choudhary and the three others had made a written request to Assembly Council chairperson for providing them separate sitting arrangements and treating them as an independent political group. Bihar Congress’s working president Kaukab Quadri said the party had suspended the four MLCs.
The party now has two MLCs.
Ashok Choudhary said, “Congress had been treating us well. The party has been promoting leaders, who have joined in recent years…. Rahul Gandhi is one of finest persons I have met in politics but he is surrounded by people like CP Joshi (Congress’s Bihar in-charge)… When I was younger, the party was bigger. When I grew older, the party has started shrinking.”
Choudhary was removed as the party chief last year after being accused of trying to split the party and merging it with JD(U).
Asked about Congress having suspended them from the party, Choudhary said: “Ab to chidiya chug gayi khet (it is crying over spilt milk). When we had already approached the Council chairperson for separate sitting for us, there is little meaning of the Congress suspending us”.
He said: “We were humiliated in recent party meeting. We were told that we want to defeat party’s Bhabhua candidate in the coming bypoll… We have worked hard for Congress and cannot face humiliation. We have decided to join Nitish Kumar-led JD(U).”
Choudhary played down questions on putting conditions such as making him the Education minister again. “I have not done my politics on conditions,” he said.
Sources said Choudhary was told to join NDA to counter Manjhi’s quitting NDA.”
Ashok Kumar Choudhary,
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