Congress veteran Ashok Ram quits after 40 years, joins JD(U) citing Dalit neglect ahead of Bihar polls

Ram, a several-term former MLA, had been a working president of the Bihar Congress.

In a setback for the Congress ahead of the Bihar assembly elections, its senior leader Ashok Ram on Sunday joined Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), alleging that "Dalits were being ignored" in the party with which he had been associated for nearly four decades.

He was welcomed into the JD(U) by its working president and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Kumar Jha, who claimed that "there is a stampede in the Congress. Many of its leaders are in touch with us".

Ram, a several-term former MLA, had been a working president of the Bihar Congress.

“Ashok Ram has a strong influence across all sections of society. His grassroots connection will certainly prove beneficial for the JD(U). The Congress party’s treatment and acceptance of Dalits is well known. Several leaders of constituent parties of the INDIA bloc are also in touch with us. Our leader Nitish Kumar ji’s commitment to the welfare of Dalit and Mahadalit communities has been exemplary," Jha claimed.

After joining the JD(U), Ram said, “Nitish Kumar is a visionary leader and he is committed to public welfare. Dalits were being ignored in the Congress." The Congress slammed Ram for crossing over to the JD(U), claiming that he is a "rank opportunist".

Congress' national media panellist Prem Chandra Mishra said, "It is absurd on the part of Ashok Ram to allege that the Dalits were being ignored in the Congress, which had made his father a union minister and gave him the party ticket innumerable times." "The exit of rank opportunists like Ashok Ram is a good riddance for the Congress, which is focused on achieving victory for the INDIA bloc in assembly polls," Mishra added.

Ram had contested the Samastipur Lok Sabha seat three times on Congress tickets but failed to win the constituency once.

His late father Baleshwar Ram had also been a senior Congress leader, who was a multiple-term MLA and MP from the now-abolished Rosera constituency and the union minister in the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's government.