March 17, New Delhi: The Indian National Congress is facing internal turmoil following incidents of cross-voting, absenteeism, and growing factionalism across multiple states.
The party has expelled three MLAs – Sofia Firdous, Dasarathi Gomango, and Ramesh Jena – for cross-voting in favor of Independent candidate Dilip Ray.
In Bihar, Congress MLAs Surendra Kushwaha and Manoj Biswas remained absent during the voting. Kushwaha said he stayed away as the Rashtriya Janata Dal fielded a businessman instead of a candidate from a deprived section. Biswas claimed that state Congress president Rajesh Ram had asked him to abstain, alleging lack of consultation by Tejashwi Yadav.
In Haryana, the Congress managed to get its candidate elected, but internal divisions were exposed as at least five MLAs cross-voted and four votes were declared invalid. A blame game has since erupted, with supporters of Bhupinder Singh Hooda demanding action against Kumari Selja, alleging that the dissenting MLAs were her loyalists. Meanwhile, state working president Ram Kishan Gujjar has resigned.
Factionalism has also surfaced in Odisha, where cross-voting is said to have cost the party an election. The developments have raised fresh questions over leadership, with critics pointing to challenges faced by Rahul Gandhi in maintaining unity and cohesion within the party ranks across states.