Congress Jharkhand in-charge Ajay Maken arrives at Birsa Munda airport. Picture by Prashant Mitra

Ranchi, May 16: Congress Jharkhand in-charge Ajay Maken today seemed at a loss of words to explain his party’s vacillating moves on the Madhu Koda government.

“We have not yet withdrawn our support as we have not been able to convince our coalition partners — the RJD and JMM,” Maken explained.

On how the Congress could abuse and still continue to support the Koda government, Maken shot back: “We are not a part of the government. Rather, we are opposing it tooth and nail.”

“We have not said that we will never withdraw support. It is just a matter of time. The vehicle (the decision to dump the government) seems stuck, but it will not be so for long,” said Maken, the Union Minister of state for urban development.

Maintaining that Koda was at the root of all wrongs, Maken described the chief minister’s decision to transfer the three officers under the JMM pressure in Jamshedpur as “unfortunate”.

Maken was in the city with president of the Indian Youth Congress Ashok Tanwar to participate in a party-led talent hunt. Later, they made a personal visit to Lohardaga. “The Congress was under the pressure of coalition politics as our coalition dharma tells us that decisions should be made by taking coalition partners into confidence,” he pointed out.

Maken’s stand, however, invited sharp reaction from former chief minister Babulal Marandi who said the Congress leader was either “foolish” or “fooling the public”. Marandi, the head of the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha, said that the Koda government was running as several ministers in the Union cabinet were shareholders in the corrupt practices of Koda ministers.

“The Congress diatribe against Koda is just an eyewash. By doing so, the grand old party of India has dug out its own graveyard,” said the former chief minister, on a tour of all 81 Assembly constituencies.