Patna: A review meeting convened by the Congress in Delhi to assess its defeat in the Bihar Assembly elections was overshadowed by a heated confrontation between two party candidates, with one reportedly threatening to shoot the other.
The altercation occurred at the party’s national headquarters, Indira Bhawan, shortly before the meeting began. According to party sources, tensions escalated when Engineer Sanjeev, the party’s candidate from Vaishali, clashed with Purnia candidate Jitendra Kumar, an associate of Pappu Yadav. The two exchanged verbal abuse, and Sanjeev allegedly threatened to “shoot [him] in the face”, triggering chaos among those present.
Sanjeev reportedly accused the leadership of importing candidates from outside the party and allotting them tickets. When Jitendra Kumar objected, the confrontation escalated. Neither Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge nor Rahul Gandhi was present at the time, but sources say they later issued a stern warning to Sanjeev and his supporters, stressing that internal indiscipline would not be tolerated.
Speaking to reporters afterwards, Engineer Sanjeev denied the incident, calling reports of threats and uproar “fabricated”. He said he had only presented his views “strongly” before the leadership.
The review meeting was the first formal interaction between the Congress high command and Bihar party leaders since the election loss. State leaders, MPs, MLAs and all candidates had been invited.
After the meeting, Bihar Congress in-charge Krishna Allavaru said the party conducted two levels of assessment: allegations of vote-buying and tampering in the election process, and internal issues within the Grand Alliance and the Congress itself. He said future strategies had also been discussed and would be implemented going forward.
