The Congress legislators unanimously elected Kadwa MLA and All India Congress Committee secretary Shakeel Ahmad Khan as legislature party leader in Bihar on Saturday.

He replaces Bhagalpur MLA Ajit Sharma.

The move is being seen as an attempt by the party to balance the caste equations and also send out a strong message to the minority community ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Khan, 58, was elected at a meeting at the state Congress headquarters at Sadaquat Ashram in Patna. All the MLAs and MLCs of the party attended it. Congress Delhi and Haryana in-charge and Rajya Sabha member Shaktisinh Gohil was present as anobserver to oversee the election.

AICC general secretary and in-charge of Kerala and Lakshadweep Tariq Anwar, Bihar Congress in-charge Bhakta Charan Das, and Bihar Congress president and Rajya Sabha member Akhilesh Prasad Singh also attended the meeting.

“My priority will be to activate and galvanise our legislators. An MLA can go everywhere. He can oversee, investigate and monitor governance, incidents and welfare schemes. He has a big role to play in society. I will also raise the requirements of Bihar at the national-level meetings of our party,” Khan told The Telegraph.

Sibal slams BJP silence on Brij

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Saturday said with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling BJP being “silent” on the sexual harassment charges levelled by wrestlers against their boss Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the “message” is enough for those investigating the matter.

The attack by Sibal, a senior advocate who represented the protesting wrestlers in the Supreme Court, came as voices calling for the arrestof Singh, a BJP MP, grewlouder.

Sibal tweeted: “Brij Bhushan Singh, with mounting evidence, public outcry, still not arrested. PM silent, HM silent, BJP silent, RSS silent. Message enough for those investigating!”

“Sabka saath nahin Brij Bhushan ka saath! (Not with everyone but with Brij Bhushan),” Sibal said.