PATNA, Aug. 4 -- Janata Dal (United) working president and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Jha on Sunday said that several INDIA bloc leaders were soon to join his party as a former state Congress president and minister in Rabri Devi cabinet, Ashok Kumar, joined the party. The Opposition, however, refuted any exodus possibility and said that it was merely a poll season "opportunistic" shift. Ashok Kumar, a six-time MLA, is a prominent Dalit face from Samastipur. Buoyed by Kumar's entry, Jha said that leaders from INDIA bloc are seeing future in JD(U). "More leaders from the INDIA bloc are in touch with the JD(U) due to their appreciation for the work of chief minister Nitish Kumar and many would cross over in coming days," he said. The JD(U) leader added that Kumar's departure from the Congress and joining the JD(U) would send an effective message in the poll season. "Nothing is left in the Congress after Ashok Kumar. Such a big Dalit leader, who is a six-term MLA, former minister, former member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) and also the party's legislature party leader in the past, quitting Congress shows the condition of Dalits in the party. They want to use Dalit faces, while Nitish Kumar has worked for them," he added. Apart from Jha, senior JD(U) leaders like Bihar's parliamentary affairs minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary, who also hails from Samastipur, JD(U) state president Umesh Kushwaha and a host of other leaders were present in the event when Kumar was inducted into the JD(U). Congress leaders from Bihar have been leaving the party to join other outfits, including JD(U), and even sometimes forming their own party. In recent years, Ram Jatan Sinha and Ashok Choudhary had left to join the JD-U. Sinha later rejoined the Congress after a few years. Similarly, former state Congress president Mehboob Ali Kaiser and Tariq Anwar had also left the party. While Kaiser joined the LJP of Ram Vilas Paswan, Anwar had co-founded the Nationalist Congress Party with Sharad Pawar and PA Sangma, but he also later returned to the party. Ashok Kumar, whose father late Baleshwar Ram was also a senior Congress leader, is said to be upset with being constantly sidelined within the party and was contemplating making a move since the last Lok Sabha election. "RJD chief Lalu Prasad's intention to kill Congress in Bihar has succeeded. The Congress does not require me any more and it has lost the legacy and sheen of the Jawaharlal Nehru to Rajiv Gandhi periods. I was constantly ignored. During the last Lok Sabha election also, I was made to sit at home, as I was made to feel unwanted and the ticket was given to an outsider. I could no longer take this kind of insult, though I should have quit then only. More Congress leaders will leave the party in coming days," he added. When contacted, Congress leaders strongly refuted that any exodus from the party is imminent and that leaders switch during poll season to get tickets. Congress Legislatures Party (CLP) leader Shakeel Ahmad Khan said that during election time such things (leaders joining other parties) happen and it only reflects poor ideological commitment of the man, who got so much from the Congress over the years. "Maybe, he has gone to get a poll ticket, but at present there was no denial from the Congress for his candidature as polls are still away and seats have not been finalised. He had got Lok Sabha ticket three times, was made CWC member and also a minister in the state. What else can one expect from a party? The party also deserves something back from its committed leaders," he added. Senior RJD leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sudhakar Singh said that the NDA might rejoice by borrowing some leaders, but the RJD didn't believe in this and the Opposition was united. "The INDIA bloc is strong and united. The focus is one -- to remove the anti-poor government and nothing will work in front of people's power," he added....