After its defeat in the Bihar Assembly elections, the state Congress is undergoing a tumultuous time as 43 party leaders face action over alleged anti-party activities and indiscipline.Just two days after the results for the Bihar polls were announced on November 14, which saw the Congress reduced to just six seats in the 243-member Assembly, state Congress president Rajesh Kumar constituted a state-level disciplinary committee. Headed by senior leader Kapildev Prasad Yadav, the committee has so far expelled seven leaders, and issued show cause notices to 36 others, who have been allegedly involved in “indiscipline and anti-party activities” as per the committee.AdvertisementThe seven who have been expelled include former Bihar Congress vice-presidents Rajkumar Rajan and Shakeelur Rahman, and Banka district party chief Kanchana Singh.Political Pulse | Cong, RJD tension flares over Bihar rout as ex-CLP leader pitches for breaking tiesAmong the 36 others who face action over alleged anti-party activities are former Khagaria MLAs Chhatrapati Yadav and Gajanand Shahi, ex-Bihar minister Veena Shahi, and ex-Congress MLC Ajay Kumar Singh.The 43 leaders include six whose names have been sent to the All India Congress Committee (AICC)’s Disciplinary Action Committee for further action. The six include former MLA Sudhir Kumar alias Bunty Chaudhary, former Bihar Congress spokesperson Anand Madhab, former Bihar Youth Congress president Nagendra Paswan Vikal, AICC member Madhurendra Kumar Singh, former MLA Chhatrapati Yadav and former Bihar minister Afaque Alam.AdvertisementA majority of the leaders who have faced action since the Bihar poll results were said to be part of an “open rebellion” against Rajesh Kumar and the AICC’s Bihar in-charge Krishna Allavaru, whom they had accused of “taking bribes for giving tickets”.The allegations of favouritism and bribery had been levelled against the state Congress leadership by a section of disgruntled party leaders and workers during the ticket distribution process for the polls.On October 18, when voting was just days away in Bihar, a group of Congress ticket seekers had held a press conference in Patna to level such allegations, including the charge of money exchanging hands for tickets, leaving the party embarrassed. These party “rebels” included Congress spokesperson Anand Madhab and Khagaria MLA Chhatrapati Yadav among others.Opinion | Want to know what’s wrong with the Congress? Look at its reaction to Bihar lossIn the run-up to the Assembly elections, these leaders had met the Congress central leadership besides the party’s senior observers for the Bihar elections, Ashok Gehlot and Avinash Pande, and were apparently pacified.A senior Congress leader told The Indian Express that while some of the leaders facing disciplinary action “deserve” it, some others have been “targeted”. “After these dissenters met Gehlot ji and senior central leaders, they were pacified and told not to sabotage the Congress’s chances in their seats. Some of them did as the high command told them, while some didn’t listen. Now, when action is being taken, they are all facing the same yardstick, which is a bit unfair. Most of them who are facing action are old Congress hands,” said the senior leader.Speaking to The Indian Express, Chhatrapati Yadav, whose name has been sent to the AICC for action, said, “We have been told that we are facing action because we spoke against the party. I would like to say we didn’t speak against the party but spoke against those who were in positions of power and misused their positions.” He had in 2020 won the Khagaria seat, but was denied a ticket in the recent elections.Anand Madhab, who was also among the dissidents, said: “If we spoke against some people, it was because we wanted to do what was in the best interest of the party. We were told by the party high command that after the elections, we can have a meeting with Rahul Gandhi and explain things to him. But that has not happened and now, they have issued notices to some of us, some have been expelled. This is not the style of Congress functioning,” Madhab told The Indian Express.most readDon't Miss | After Congress’s Bihar loss, a message from ally Stalin: Clarity, welfare, and groundwork win electionsHe also raised questions over the constitution of the disciplinary committee by Rajesh Kumar. “The power to constitute such a committee is with the AICC, not with the state unit,” he said.Tariq Anwar, a Bihar MP and the member secretary of the AICC Disciplinary Action Committee, confirmed to The Indian Express that the state unit has sent a request to the committee for action against a group of leaders. “That issue is with the Congress president (Mallikarjun Kharge) and he will decide it,” Anwar said.Senior Bihar Congress leader Kapildev Prasad Yadav, who heads the state-level disciplinary committee that took action against the leaders, told The Indian Express that action was initiated against the leaders after they publicly spoke against the party. “If they had any issues, they should have raised it within the party. But they went outside and made false allegations against our state leadership, including against Krishna Allavaru and Rajesh Kumar. Hence, they faced action,” Yadav said.