Lalu brother-in-law on Bihar Cong publicity panel

Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad's controversial brother-in-law Sadhu Yadav has been given a pride of place in the publicity committee of the Congress in poll-bound Bihar. On the other hand Yadav's wife, Ranjit Ranjan, will look after media affairs as vice chairman of the media committee. Another controversial politician who figures in the list released by the Congress today is Lovely Anand, wife of former MP Anand Mohan Singh convicted for the murder of an IAS officer in Muzaffarpur. She has been made a member of the manifesto committee. All the three are former MPs but are recent entrants into Congress. In March, Congress had suspended Anirudh Prasad alias Sadhu Yadav, for his alleged violation of the party's stand on Women's Reservation Bill. The party later withdrew the suspension.

After the removal of former Pradesh Congress Committee chief and All India Congress Committee in-charge for poll-bound Bihar last month, the Congress central leadership also dissolved the PCC executive and team of office bearers of the state unit. The last PCC executive had more than 550 members and had generated controversies as the castes of all the leaders had been mentioned in the list including that of Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar. Party sources indicated that no new executive would be constituted in the run-up to the election and the committees formed on Wednesday would look after the party affairs in the months preceding the polls. The please-all list of the committees has names of all former PCC chiefs, former party MPs and important leaders of different communities but has axed the supporters of the last PCC chief Anil Sharma.

The party has constituted fresh committees for election, coordination, manifesto committee, media and publicity. Assembly elections are to be held in next few months as the term of the current state assembly expires on November 23. State PCC chief Anil Sharma and AICC in-charge Jagdish Tytler were removed from their posts last month after their internal differences reached a flash point. While Kaisar, a relatively young Muslim leader was made the new PCC chief, Union Minister Mukul Wasnik, who is from the Dalit community replaced Tytler. Sources in the party said the changes in the party organisation has been made to infuse a newness in it and members of all castes and communities have been given representation in it.