Bihar Congress workers accost state in charge Wasnik over poll results

BURARI - Bedlam reigned midway through the first day of the three-day 83rd plenary session of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) here on Sunday when some party activists physically accosted the general secretary in charge of the state of Bihar, Mukul Wasnik, blaming him for the poor party electoral results in the recently held state assembly elections.

Congress workers also shouted slogans protesting against the way Wasnik had distributed tickets to what they described as undeserving candidates. They claimed that he had “sold” the tickets to candidates for a price.

Wasnik, on his part, denied that the party had made a mistake by going it alone in Bihar.

“It was a new beginning. Nobody was thinking that we would make way easily. I don’t believe that we committed a mistake by going alone. We wanted to create our own space in Bihar… the path may be longer,” an agitated Wasnik claimed.

He said that the Congress party’s decision to go it alone in Bihar was a “conscious” one.

Wasnik said that there were tough days ahead for the Congress in Bihar, and endorsed party president Sonia Gandhi’s missive that the party rank and file would have to start from scratch and from the grassroots level to make a mark in the state again.ihar and Jharkhand have been weak Congress turfs, but prior to the six=phased assembly elections, the party had created the hype of revival.

Some of the party’s leaders are blaming the Congress no-show on its shortcut strategy of “importing winnable candidates” in the hope of a hung assembly.

They still feel that the party should have set rolling a genuine process to revive the organizational muscle with the future in mind.

With the annihilation in the assembly polls, a fresh round of desertions and infighting, it is expected to be difficult for the party to attract the interest of “genuine” workers. (ANI)