Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday asked the newly-appointed Bihar unit chief Mehboob Ali Kaiser, AICC general secretary in charge for the state Mukul Wasnik and AICC Secretary in charge Sagar Rayaka to aggressively prepare the party to face upcoming Assembly elections.
The trio got directions from the Congress president when they met her after three days of getting the new responsibilities. The Assembly elections in the state are scheduled for October-November this year.
Fed-up with their squabbling to get hold of the party apparatus in Bihar, Mrs Gandhi had on June 2 removed both the BPCC chief, Mr Anil Sharma and the AICC in- harge Jagdish Tytler and brought the Muslim-dalit combination to lead the party in the poll-bound state. Mr Kaiser belongs to a known Muslim family, which has for generations been associated with Congress. Mr Wasnik, who is Union minister for social justice and empowerment, is a dalit.
“We have been directed to get down to work as time is short,” Mr Kaiser said when asked what Mrs Gandhi told them at the meeting.
Claiming that the Congress is a “latent” force in Bihar, Mr Kaiser said, he has been assured of support from all sections. “I have spoken to Mr Sharma and even he has promised me his total support to further strengthen the party.”