Two Of Three Congress MLAs Furnish Replies To Show Cause Notices On Being Absent During Rajya Sabha Polls
BPCC president Rajesh Kumar said that the party was conducting its own investigation in the matter and will take appropriate action after it concludes.
By Dev Raj
Published : March 23, 2026 at 7:05 PM IST
Patna: Two of the three Congress MLAs, who were absent from the Rajya Sabha elections in Bihar on March 16, have submitted their replies to the show-cause notices served to them. The party’s central disciplinary committee and the high command will decide what action should be taken against them.
“Our three MLAs did not turn up to vote in the Rajya Sabha polls. They were served show cause notices. Two of them have submitted their replies. The issue is now pending with the central disciplinary committee, which, along with the high command, will decide the action that should be taken against them,” Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) president Rajesh Kumar aka Rajesh Ram told ETV Bharat.
Rajesh added that the party was also conducting its own investigation in the matter and will take appropriate action after it concludes.
Though the BPCC president did not reveal the names of the two MLAs who have responded to the show cause notices or the one who is yet to do so, the absence of the three Congress legislators – Surendra Prasad (Valmikinagar constituency), Manoj Bishwas (Forbesganj), Manohar Prasad Singh (Manihari) – and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) lawmaker Fasial Rahman (Dhaka) led to the defeat of the Opposition Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) Rajya Sabha candidate Amarendra Dhari Singh in the polls.
Amarendra, an incumbent Rajya Sabha member, had filed his nomination papers this time also from the RJD. He would have won had the four legislators voted in his favour. With five seats going to polls, a candidate with 41 ‘first-preference votes’ would have won as per the formula of proportional representation used to elect people to the Rajya Sabha. The RJD candidate got 37 votes and had to yield the seat to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Shivesh Kumar.
However, a senior Congress leader confided to ETV Bharat that the chances of the party acting against the erring MLAs in Bihar were negligible because of several reasons, including the lack of will of the state leadership, small size of the legislature party, and the party whip, as well as, the anti-defection law do not apply in the election to the Council of States (Rajya Sabha).
“All the MLAs have been close to the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) during their career. A couple of them also enjoy the blessings of the BPCC chief. Besides, our party has a total of six MLAs. Speculations about an impending split have been doing the rounds in the political circles. What if the Assembly Speaker allows them to sit as a different group? Also, cross-voting, not obeying the party instructions, or abstaining do not attract the anti-defection law. They will not lose their Assembly membership. These factors indicate that no action will be taken against them,” the senior Congress leader said.
However, the senior leader added that action against the three legislators would “instill confidence and boost the morale of the party workers, who were already dejected since the dismal performance of the Congress in the state Assembly elections.”
He pointed out that the party has already suspended three MLAs in Odisha for cross-voting, but had adopted delaying tactics in Bihar and Haryana. Congress MLA Surendra Prasad aka Surendra Kushwaha has already spoken in the public to assert that his party did not given any specific directions with regard to voting in the Rajya Sabha polls.
“I was in Patna on the election day. There was no instruction by the party that we should vote for the Mahagathbandhan. BPCC president Rajesh sent be a message via WhatsApp a day before the polling date (March 16) that we should support the alliance. Have I fallen down so low that Rajesh does not seem it fit to meet me or even telephone me? I decided to take a rest on the voting day,” Surendra said.
Pointing out that the Congress has not elected the legislature party leader in the Assembly, Surendra asserted that there would be no action against him. He claimed that he would have voted for the Mahagathbandhan if RJD leaders Tejashwi Prasad Yadav or deceased gangster Mohammad Shahabuddin’s wife, Heena Shahab, or a candidate from the Dalit, extremely backward or backward classes had contested the polls.
The RJD is also silent about acting against its MLA, Faisal. Its leaders said that neither Tejashwi nor Bihar unit president Mangani Lal Mandal were present in Bihar after the Rajya Sabha election. They have returned now, and there are some steps that could be taken against him, though the party was yet to serve a show cause notice on the issue.
Asked about any action against Faisal in the offing, RJD general secretary and spokesperson Chitranjan Gagan said: “A situation of political uncertainty has developed in Bihar. Our party is monitoring it closely and will make its strategies accordingly.”
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