Congress: May replace Choudhary as Bihar unit chief

New Delhi, Sep 7 : The Congress may appoint a new Bihar chief in place of Ashok Choudhary following recent turbulence in the state unit which saw senior leaders of the party being sent to Patna to stave off any possible break-up.

Sources said Choudhary was not present at the meetings held by Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi with party legislators from the state on Wednesday and Thursday.

Leader of Congress Legislative Party Sadanand Singh later said they discussed how to strengthen the party in the state in the aftermath of the collapse of the grand alliance when the JD-U decided to snap ties with Rashtriya Janata Dal and rejoin hands with the BJP to form government in the state in July. Congress was the third ally in the alliance.

A Congress legislator, who did not want to be named, said the leadership was unhappy with Choudhary over reports about possible defections.

The legislator said that Choudhary had been state unit chief for over four years and there is a strong view among senior leaders that the party should appoint a new face at the helm in the state.

"The change will be made keeping the caste equations in mind," he said.

Party sources said Choudhary was not invited for Gandhi's meeting with MLAs and MLCs.

Congress has 27 MLAs in the state.

Choudhary had met party chief Sonia Gandhi on August 31 told the media that the state unit was united.

The party had sent senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia and J.P. Agarwal to the state earlier last month to take stock of the situation following reports of rift in the state unit.