Jaganath Mishra Charged With Anti-Party Activities

The Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) joint secretary, Prem Chandra Mishra, who is also a member of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC), yesterday flayed former Union minister Jagannath Mishra for working against the interest of the party in collusion with Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav.

They demanded disciplinary action against Mishra for making a statement that might prove detrimental to the interest of the party in the long run.

Taking a dig at the former Bihar Chief Minister, the BPCC joint secretary said that Jagannath Mishra had always opposed the movement launched by the state unit of the party against the corrupt rule of Yadav and had preferred to side with him for petty political gains. Mishras action and statement in the past have resulted in weakening of the party, he said.

Prem Chandra Mishra said that when he filed a petition in the Patna High Court for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the multi-crore animal husbandry racket and launched a movement to mobilise public opinion against Yadavs government, Jagannath Mishra had not only publicly opposed the move, but had advocated a judicial inquiry into the scam as was being demanded by the Chief Minister.

He charged the former Union minister with putting pressure on the partys central leadership to get him suspended from the primary membership of the Congress since he dared to challenge the authority of Jagannath Mishra. The BPCC joint secretary wanted to know what prompted Jagannath Mishra to come out with a statement challenging the justification of the agitational programme of the party against Yadav.

Jagannath Mishra, in a statement, had talked about the futility of the agitation since the Congress had neither withdrawn its support to the United Front (UF) nor had it enunciated a definite programme against the Bihar Chief Minister. Mishra said the proposed agitational programme would yield no results as the masses would not take to the agitation since it had not been sanctioned by the high command.

The BPCC has decided to launch a day-long dharna and stage demonstrations throughout the state on January 27 to put pressure on the Chief Minister to relinquish his post on moral grounds after being interrogated by the CBI in the Rs 950-crore animal husbandry scandal.

Prem Chandra Mishra said that the former Bihar Chief Minister in the capacity of the leader of the opposition or as the BPCC chief had never opposed the Chief Minister inside or outside the state assembly and he had not moved a no-confidence motion against Laloo Prasad Yadav.

He asked Mishra to abstain from being the political broker of Yadav and participate in the agitational programme that had been worked out by the BPCC.

If this is not acceptable to him he should resign from the Congress and join the Janata Dal (JD). Enough is enough, the Congress cannot tolerate politicians with a dual character, he said.