RANCHI: Stunned by the snub at the hands of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), which sidelined the Congress and fielded its own candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls, leaders of the grand old party in the state have asked the central leadership to withdraw its four ministers from the government and extend support only from outside.
Congress MLAs expressed their anguish to state Congress in-charge Avinash Pandey in Ranchi on Tuesday, while he sought their opinion about the future of their alliance with the JMM.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren had announced Mahua Maji as JMM’s candidate for Rajya Sabha polls on Monday.
Congress insiders informed TNIE that barring four ministers — Alamgir Alam, Rameshwar Oraon, Banna Gupta and Mithlesh Thakur — almost every MLA was of the view that it is high time they withdraw their ministers from the Hemant Soren-led government.
“The way Congress is being treated in the alliance government, it is better we extend our support from outside only, rather than staying inside the government. Hemant Soren has no respect for its alliance partners and if he has taken us for granted then the Congress should extend support from outside,” a senior Congress MLA said, requesting anonymity.
Several Congress members want the central leadership to take a final call regarding the alliance.
“The way JMM announced its candidate for Rajya Sabha polls on its own, every worker of the Congress party sees it as an insult to our national president Sonia Gandhi. Even though it is an alliance government, there is no common minimum programme, no coordination committee, which proves that the actual spirit of alliance is missing here,” Congress MLA Deepika Panday said, adding that she can say in her personal capacity that the JMM has touched the ‘Laxman rekha’ of ‘Gathbandhan dharma’ which cannot be tolerated at any cost.
Though Pandey said she doubts that Hemant Soren has entered into some secret deal with the BJP at the behest of which he took the decision, another MLA hinted at the possibility.
Jharkhand Congress in-charge Avinash Pandey, however, claimed that no such demand of withdrawing ministers has been made.