Ashok Choudhary removed as Bihar Congress chief

Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday relieved Ashok Choudhary from the post of Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee chief with immediate effect.

The move comes days after MLAs wrote to the central leadership that state unit chief Ashok Choudhary was seeking signatures from MLAs to quit Congress and join the JD(U).

The 49-year-old Congress leader has been known to be close to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and had spoken against the Congress leadership in Delhi for not doing enough to save the alliance.

In a recent outburst, Choudhary had also accused a section within the party of maligning his name for brewing a rebellion within the Bihar unit.

Amid fears that the state unit may split and some members may join the ruling JD(U), the Congress has claimed of having "defused" the situation after several MLAs were reportedly gravitating towards the JD(U) following the disintegration of the Grand Alliance last month.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had also met over 20 of the 27 party MLAs earlier this month and sought their views on the party's functioning.

The Congress has 27 MLAs in the 243-member Bihar Assembly.

Earlier this month, Choudhary did not go to Delhi on being summoned by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for a meeting to stem the crisis in Bihar arising after the collapse of the Grand Alliance.

OneIndia News