PATNA, Jan. 10 -- Two Congress legislators stayed away from a key party meeting here on Thursday, triggering a new round of speculation that the already depleted opposition bench in the Bihar assembly could shrink further in the coming days.

The meeting, called by Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) president Rajesh Ram, was meant to chalk out the party's strategy for the nationwide "MGNREGA Bachao Sangram" - a Congress campaign launched earlier this month against what the party calls the Centre's attempts to weaken the rural job guarantee scheme. With Bihar heavily dependent on MGNREGA wages, the state unit had planned district-level protests from January 10 to February 25.

But the absence of Surendra Prasad (Valmiki Nagar) and Abh...