PATNA, March 18 -- Barely two days after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) swept all five Rajya Sabha (RS) seats from Bihar, the Congress unit here is confronting an existential crisis marked by its acute helplessness in holding its tiny flock of just six MLAs together. The party's wafer-thin strength in the 243-member assembly has left it with no room for tough disciplinary action - expulsion or suspension included - against the three legislators, who stayed away from the RS polls, as any such move risks further erosion of its already precarious numbers and total wipeout.

The absence of MLAs Manohar Prasad Singh (Manihari), Surendra Prasad Kushwaha (Valmikinagar) and Manoj Bishwas (Forbesganj) - alongside one RJD legislator - hande...