Sonia Gandhi removes Bihar Congress chief Ashok Choudhary from post

Pic Courtesy: @AshokChoudhaary/Twitter (File image)

New Delhi: Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday removed the chief of Congress' Bihar unit Ashok Choudhary from the post with immediate effect.

Kaukab Quadri will take charge of responsibilities till new chief of BPCC is announced.

"Congress President Sonia Gandhi has relieved Ashok Choudhary from the post of Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee chief with immediate effect," AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said.

The action comes amid reports of a possible split in the Bihar unit, which a section of the party alleged was being spearheaded by him.

Choudhary, however, has denied the charge. In a recent outburst, he had accused a section within the party of maligning his name.

The Congress has 27 MLAs in the 243-member Bihar Assembly.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi had met over 20 of the 27 party MLAs earlier this month and had sought their views on the party's functioning.

Chaudhary, however, did not come to Delhi for the meeting despite being summoned by the party leadership.

A rebellion is said to have been reportedly brewing in the party's Bihar unit ever since Chief Minister Nitish Kumar broke the grand alliance which included the RJD and the Congress and joined hands with the BJP to form a new government in the state.

The Congress had four ministers in the Grand Alliance government.

(With PTI inputs)