Akhilesh Prasad Singh is likely to lose post after LS elections.
Post 4 June when the results of the 2024 general elections will be declared, Bihar Congress state president Akhilesh Kumar Singh is likely to be sacked. Singh, a member of the G-23 group of leaders who had criticised the Congress leadership, was appointed as the state president in December 2022.
Reports reaching the office of the Congress president Mallikarjuna Kharge and Rahul Gandhi from state leaders have been critical of the way Singh was unable to safeguard the party’s interest in the state and surrendering to “big brother” RJD and Lalu Prasad Yadav.
Singh, who belongs to the 2.86% population strong and vocal Bhumihar community, was expected to assert the party’s demand to contest on at least 12 of the 40 seats in the state. However, in the end the Congress was given a paltry nine seats by RJD and on top of that those seats where Congress was expected to do well were not given to them.
Patna-based party leaders, while speaking to The Sunday Guardian, accused Singh of mortgaging the Congress’ interest for securing his own Rajya Sabha seat and a possible seat for his son, Akash Prasad Singh, who had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Champaran against BJP leader Radha Mohan Singh on the ticket of Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP, which is now defunct). From the Motihari seat, for which the Congress is yet to announce its candidate, Akhilesh Singh is trying for a ticket for Akash.
However, this is being resisted by other state leaders, including Dr Shakil Ahmed Khan, who is the leader of the Congress legislative party.
Delhi-based party leaders said that Singh, who won the 2004 Lok Sabha elections from Arwal on an RJD ticket before joining the Congress, and unsuccessfully contesting the 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections and the 2015 assembly elections, was made the Congress president despite his poor electoral record and his non-Congress background because of his proximity to Haryana leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda and UP-based Congress leader Pramod Tiwari. These two leaders allegedly prevailed on the Congress leadership to appoint Singh as the state president despite him losing three successive popular elections.
Such is the confidence of the Congress high command that Singh, despite losing multiple elections, was sent to the Rajya Sabha in 2018 and then again this year.
His latest re-nomination to the Rajya Sabha, like the last time too, could only happen due to the support of Lalu Prasad Yadav. Just like in 2018, when Lalu called up Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and asked her to send Akhilesh to the Rajya Sabha, this time too Lalu prevailed over Left leaders who supported Singh rather than their own party colleague and CPM (ML) general secretary, Deepankar Bhattacharya. The Congress has 19 MLAs in the House of 243 MLAs.
State leaders who had approached state-in-charge Mohan Prakash, who replaced Bhakth Charan Das in December last year, with their grievances against the working of Singh regarding the seat distribution, have been asked to adopt the policy of “wait and watch”.
The Rajasthan-based 73-year-old Prakash has visited the state only once after being given the responsibility, which is being ascribed to his “back-pain”.
The concern among the state Congress leaders, which is likely also shared by Delhi based leaders, is that asking any tough questions to Singh right now will impact the I.N.D.I.A bloc in Bihar and is likely to push Singh to join the RJD. Hence, Congress leaders have decided to sit on the complaint for now while awaiting the alliance’s and the party’s performance when the results are declared.