A tussle seems to be on between the newcomers and old-timers. Among the newcomers, that is those who joined the party on the eve of 2009 Lok Sabha election, the name of former Union minister and RJD leader, Akhilesh Singh, is quite prominent. He is a Bhumihar, and can be used as an upper caste counter to neutralize the NDA in Bihar.

Ranjita Ranjan, who switched over from LJP to join the party, is another one. She herself is a Sikh, but is married to Pappu Yadav former Independent and than RJD MP. She and her husband still have some clout in Kosi belt.

Apart from the present incumbent Choudhary Mehboob Ali Quaiser, the old-timers very much in the race are Ramjatan Sinha, Sadanand Singh, Awadhesh Kumar Singh, Dhanraj Singh, Kripa Nath Pathak, Jyoti, Chandan Bagchi, Vijay Shanker Dubey and Ram Deo Rai.

However, reports from New Delhi said that the Congress high command is looking for a fresh face and that too from some upper caste to lead the party in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the state. In that case leaders such as Premchandra Mishra, Anil Kumar Sharma and Ashok Choudhary, a Dalit, could be considered.

Before its decline in 1990s Congress used to rely heavily on upper caste, minorities and Dalit votes. However, the emergence of regional parties in the post-Mandal era deprived it of the support of this section of the society.

Party insiders say so far fresh blood is concerned Premchandra Mishra, a former Youth Congress president, can be a better alternative as Anil Kumar Sharma had already been tried and tested.
Mishra has always stood by the party and had been associated with the National Students’ Union of India. He is articulate in putting the party’s stand on all the platforms and before the media.

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