The Bihar unit chief of former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s party quit on Wednesday, citing Manjhi’s statement questioning Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s agitation against the CBI, while another leader quit claiming that the Bihar unit president had swindled party funds.

Hindustani Awam Morcha Secular (HAMS) chief Manjhi, who is the lone MLA of his party, had on Tuesday said that Mamata’s decision to stage a protest in Calcutta was one taken in haste and that she should have moved courts if there were any drawbacks in the functioning of the CBI. He, however, had also maintained that the misuse of CBI by the Centre was an open secret.

Questioning Manjhi’s commitment to the Opposition Grand Alliance, HAMS Bihar unit president Brishen Patel resigned from his post and the party on Wednesday.

“While all the leaders of Grand Alliance constituents supported Mamata Banerjee for showing courage and her stand against the Narendra Modi government for its misuse of central agencies, our party president (Manjhi) ended up criticising the Bengal chief minister. Hence, I decided to resign,” Patel said.

Patel said that while Manjhi had termed the Congress rally in Patna last Saturday a successful one and also stated that Rahul Gandhi was an able candidate for Prime Minister, HAMS spokesperson Danish Rizwan had called the rally a “flop” on the same day and also stated that HAMS might rethink whether it would continue in the Grand Alliance or not, but no action was taken against Danish. “If no action is taken against such a person despite him taking a line different from the one taken by the party president; then what is the logic in remaining in such a party?” Patel said.

Danish too resigned from the party on Wednesday, accusing Patel of swindling party funds.

“The office of the party president has received resignation of Brishen Patel and Danish Rizwan but our leader would take any call on these after returning to Patna on February 11,” Manjhi’s aide Satyendra Kumar Panna told The Telegraph over phone.