By IANS,
Patna: Infighting in Bihar’s BJP Saturday surfaced again with half a dozen senior party leaders, including three ministers, boycotting the executive meeting of the party here – the first after Mangal Pandey became the state party chief.
Prominent among those who stayed away from the meet were former the Bharatiya Janata Party’s former state unit chief C.P. Thakur, Health Minister Ashwani Kumar Choubey, PHED minister Chandra Mohan Rai and Animal Husbandry Minister Giriraj Singh, a party leader said.
“They are unhappy over Pandey’s style of functioning without consulting senior party leaders. Besides, they had also questioned his setting up of a jumbo 174-member working committee in a unilateral manner,”said another party leader close to Thakur.
Pandey, considered a protege of Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, is considered to alleged to have several senior leaders, who used to enjoy clout in the party for years.
On the eve of the meet, Thakur, Singh and other party leaders, who are unhappy with Pandey, held a meeting at the house of senior party leader Tarakant Jha late Friday night.
“In that meeting itself, it was decided by them to boycott the executive meeting of the party to express their anger,” said a party leader.
Thakur, a Rajya Sabha MP, said that he was not angry with Pandey but with Modi, “who is running the show by using him”, said the leader.
The two-day executive meeting was inaugurated by Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley. Party national spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain, who also attended the meet, downpalyed the rift.
“There is nothing like it. No one is unhappy and angry in the BJP here,” he told media persons here.