Fresh trouble seems to be brewing for the ruling JMM-Congress-RJD alliance in Jharkhand, as 12 Congress MLAs have voiced dissent over the induction of “old faces” in the cabinet from party quota during the swearing-in ceremony on Friday.
The 12 Congress MLAs (barring the four cabinet ministers — Rameshwar Oraon, Banna Gupta, Alamgir Alam, Badal Patralekh — and MLA Pradeep Yadav) were staying at the Ranchi Circuit House after attending the oath-taking ceremony at the Raj Bhavan. They left for Delhi on Saturday evening to meet the Congress high command.
Earlier in the evening, Jharkhand chief minister Champai Soren also left for Delhi. “It is a scheduled visit and he is likely to make a courtesy visit to senior Congress leaders. The fresh development of disgruntled Congress MLAs might also crop up during the discussion,” said an official in the chief minister’s secretariat.
Champai Soren was sworn in as chief minister on February 2 after his predecessor Hemant Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on January 31 on alleged money laundering charges.
“We had written a letter and apprised the party state leadership about the poor performance of the four cabinet ministers from the Congress quota in the last four years and sought induction of new faces in the cabinet. But to our surprise, the cabinet retained the same old faces. We are hurt and we have decided to boycott the forthcoming budget session of the Assembly unless our grievances are addressed by the party high command,” said Shilpi Neha Tirkey, Congress MLA from Mandar.
“We want a minister from each division to cover all the five divisions in the state. We also want implementation of the ‘one person, one post’ rule made by our leader Rahul Gandhi,” said Kumar Jaimangal alias Anup Singh, Congress MLA from Bermo.
Frantic efforts were on by senior Congress leaders including party state president Rajesh Thakur to pacify the disgruntled MLAs throughout Saturday.
“The sentiments of our MLAs were expressed before the oath-taking ceremony. We acknowledge their concerns and are committed to addressing them through dialogue and consultation and hope to find a solution soon. Their feelings have been intimated to the party high command,” said Thakur.
When asked about the grievances voiced by several MLAs, state health minister Banna Gupta said: “As a party, it is our responsibility to heed the grievances of our members and engage in constructive discussions. We are a cohesive family, and any issues raised will be resolved through mutual understanding.”
The JMM-led alliance has 47 MLAs — JMM has 29, Congress has 17 and RJD has one — in the Assembly.
The BJP has 26 legislators and the AJSU Party has three. The NCP and CPI (ML) have one lawmaker each, apart from two Independents. There is also a nominated member from the Anglo-Indian community.
JMM MLA from Latehar, Baidyanath Ram, who was axed from the cabinet at the last minute also expressed his displeasure. “I was earlier informed that my name was in the cabinet and was asked to be prepared. However, at the last moment, I was informed that I was not on the list. I have expressed my feelings to the chief minister and expect a decision to be taken in a day or two,” said Ram.
