Revolt Erupts in Bihar Congress After Candidate List

Ticket Fixing Allegations, “War Room” Shut Before the Battle

By Ritesh Sinha

As Bihar heads into a high-stakes election, the Congress Party finds itself engulfed in an internal storm of rebellion and resentment. The late-night release of its first list of 48 candidates not only laid bare the shrinking influence of senior leaders but also exposed deep fissures around caste representation and alleged corruption in ticket distribution. The fallout has reached from Patna’s Sadaqat Ashram to the corridors of Delhi, prompting emergency huddles at the party’s central leadership level.Missing Faces, Broken EquationsThe candidate list has triggered uproar across several districts. The Congress, which often champions OBC and Dalit representation, has fielded 8 Bhumihars, 6 Rajputs, 6 Brahmins, 4 Muslims, 9 Scheduled Caste candidates, 2 OBCs, and 1 Scheduled Tribe candidate. Noticeably, the influential Kayastha community has been left out completely — a sharp contrast to its traditional participation in Congress ranks.Four sitting MLAs, including Chhatrapati Yadav (Khagaria), Vijay Shankar Dubey, Ajay Kumar (Jamalpur), and Abidur Rahman (Araria) have been denied tickets.

Analysts suggest the axe fell under pressure from a younger faction — largely loyal to Rahul Gandhi’s inner circle. Among these, Chandan Yadav, considered close to the Gandhi family, has emerged as a new power broker in the state, contesting from Khagaria after replacing Chhatrapati Yadav.Dalit and OBC Voices SilencedNothing could be more revealing of the Congress’s internal contradictions than its neglect of the Bholababu legacy seat of Banmankhi, once held by former Dalit Chief Minister Bhola Paswan Shastri. His family’s claim has been summarily rejected. Similarly, in Kahalgaon, an old party bastion, local contenders have been ignored.

These exclusions have sparked outrage among the very Dalit and OBC cadres who had been courted in recent Congress campaigns.The Vanishing of Kanhaiya KumarAdding to the intrigue, Kanhaiya Kumar, once the party’s “Bihar face” and a national youth icon post-JNU movement, is missing from the candidate roster. Once touted as the Congress’s bridge to the youth and the Left, he now stands isolated. Rumors swirl that he disappeared after raising funds worth millions during his state padyatra. His supporters had insisted he would contest from Begusarai, but sources say Kanhaiya backed off fearing clashes with local strongmen and Left leaders.His organizational track record further dims his standing — NSUI units under his charge in Delhi University and Telangana have weakened. Congress insiders bluntly say: “Kanhaiya has become more of a talk-show guest than a grassroots leader.”Allegations of “Ticket for Cash”

The fiercest criticism, however, targets the Screening Committee chaired by Ajay Maken, with members Imran Pratapgarhi, party in-charge Krishna Allavaru, and Bihar Pradesh Congress chief Rajesh Ram. All four face allegations of selling party tickets under a notorious “do aur lo” formula — “pay two crores, take two tickets.”
Party insiders and local media claim that losing candidates from previous elections have reappeared with Congress symbols despite poor performance, allegedly after “paying their way in.” Among the names doing the rounds: Amit Kumar ‘Tunna’ (Reega), who lost by over 30,000 votes, and Trishuldhari Singh in Barbigha, said to have secured his symbol with a hefty ₹3 crore payment.Meanwhile, senior leaders such as Gajanand Shahi (Munna), Abdul Bari, Madhurendra Singh, Saswat, Ajay Singh, and Sheikh Kamran—all from strong political backgrounds—have been sidelined.

Party sources claim this sidelining was “punishment” for closeness with MP Tariq Anwar, a vocal critic of the current Pradesh leadership.One of these veterans, Gajanand Shahi, has a symbolic connection to Congress history — it was he who once helped Indira Gandhi cross the river on his pet elephant during the iconic Belchi visit in 1977, marking Congress’s revival post Emergency. To such figures, being dropped from the list feels like betrayal by the very party they safeguarded for decades.Bidding Wars and District-Level AngerReports from the ground suggest open bidding for tickets in places like Muzaffarpur, Vikram, and Tekari. The Vikram seat is said to have fetched as high as ₹5 crore, while in Muzaffarpur, a minority face allegedly conducted outright negotiations in a hotel room. District Congress chiefs have cornered significant leverage; eight of them, including Amresh Kumar (Lakhisarai) and Subodh Mandal (Phulparas), have been granted tickets themselves — triggering rebellion among their own block presidents.

In Bachhwara, seasoned Congress stalwart Ramdev Rai’s son was denied the seat, replaced by Shiv Prakash alias Gareeb Das, a former Youth Congress associate of Allavaru. Critics say he’s a beneficiary of the same “money-for-ticket” nexus.War Room Collapses Before the WarThe internal revolt reached such levels that the Congress’s “War Room” — operating out of the Legislator Leader’s official residence — was shut down even before campaign operations fully began.

The fallout extended beyond politics: the management of Hotel Maurya reportedly evicted Congress workers after the leadership failed to deliver on promised accommodations. The state unit has since shifted its base to Hotel Chanakya in Patna.The chaos escalated further at the airport, where enraged party workers clashed with officials shouting “Catch them and throw them out!” following the arrival of screening committee members. In response, senior Congress leaders, former Chief Ministers Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel, rushed to Patna to contain the mutiny. Even with additional security and bouncers escorting central observers, the fire within state workers shows little sign of dying down.Congress at a Crossroads

The Bihar crisis mirrors a recurring pattern in state units once under the same screening panel — Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Delhi, and Rajasthan — where Ajay Maken’s involvement has coincided with internal meltdown and pre-poll disintegration. Instead of consolidating the rejuvenated cadres, Congress seems to be alienating its loyalists in Bihar just as the electoral contest heats up.Political observers predict that the “two-digit barrier” might again remain out of reach for the party. Before even entering the battlefield, the Congress’s war room has fallen silent — a symbolic reflection of a party whose internal war appears far more consuming than its external one