Bihar Congress sacks its Buxar chief over low turnout at Kharge's rally

Patna: A day after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s rally in Bihar witnessed a thin turnout, the party on Monday sacked the Buxar district unit chief over "irregularities and lack of coordination" in organising the event.

Buxar District Congress president Manoj Kumar Pandey has been suspended indefinitely and stripped of all organisational posts, Rajesh Rathod, chairman of the media cell of Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC), said.

"The party has decided to suspend Pandey from all posts he was holding in the organisation, including that of Buxar District Congress president, with immediate effect due to lack of coordination and irregularities on his part in connection with the party’s ‘Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan’ rally held at Dalsagar Stadium in Buxar on Sunday, which was addressed by our national president Mallikarjun Kharge ji," Rathod said in a statement.

According to party insiders, the low turnout and empty chairs at the rally caused considerable embarrassment for senior leaders.

Congress MLA from Buxar, Sanjay Kumar Tiwary, was reportedly seen urging people to come forward and occupy the chairs, but most remained vacant till the end of the event.

Several senior leaders attended the rally, including Congress in-charge of Bihar Krishna Allavaru, state party chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh, RJD MP from Buxar Sudhakar Singh, Congress MP from Sasaram Manoj Kumar Ram, and multiple party MLAs.